Outcomes across the care continuum - Home health care

OBJECTIVES. This article describes one approach to measuring outcomes across the continuum of care. METHODS. Development and testing of the outcome-based quality-improvement methodology as developed by the University of Colorado Center for Health Services Research in Denver, Colorado are summarized. RESULTS. Reliable and valid measures for home health care covering end results (pure outcome), intermediate results (instrumental outcome), and use (proxy outcome) were developed and are useful in demonstrating patient improvement or stabilization as well as decline. Further, these measures can be aggregated by agency and, with appropriate severity or risk adjustment, can be used to compare outcomes over time and across agencies. CONCLUSIONS. National testing of the methodology is currently ongoing, with refinements underway in measures, risk adjustment, and operational implementation.