American journal of medical quality : the official journal of the American College of Medical Quality
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It is widely acknowledged that the measurement of outcomes of care and the comparison of outcomes over time within health care providers and risk-adjusted comparisons among providers are important parts of improving quality and cost-effectiveness of care. However, few studies have assessed the costs of measuring outcomes of care. We sought to evaluate the personnel and financial resources spent for a prospective assessment of outcomes of acute hospital care by health professionals in internal medicine. ⋯ We estimated that the total cost for each hospital to assess outcomes of care for accreditation (10 tracer diagnoses over 6 months) would be 9700 Euros and that continuous monitoring of outcomes (5 tracer diagnoses) would cost 12,400 Euros per year. This study suggests that outcomes of acute hospital care can be assessed with limited resources and that standardized training programs would reduce variability in overall costs. This study should help hospital decision makers to estimate the necessary funding for outcomes measurement initiatives.