The laboratory's role in assessing patient outcomes

Abstract

Many quality improvement and cost containment initiatives are being pursued in today's health care industry. Outcomes assessments are now being actively promoted to ascertain whether patients have truly benefited from their care. This article approaches patient outcome assessment from the standpoint of the basic concepts of laboratory test appropriateness and laboratory operations improvement. It describes how laboratories can integrate their current quality initiatives to achieve efficiency and effectiveness and serves as an introduction to the subject for students of laboratory medicine as well as for practicing laboratorians who have an interest in outcomes assessment.