Measuring Medicine: A Critical Assessment of the Application of Medical Quality Research to Patient Care

Award Year: 1993	Investigator: Michael Millenson	Budget: $145,367	Categories: Quality of Care
Abstract: This project examines the medical-quality management and measurement movement and evaluates current state-of-the-art language, understandable to employers, policymakers, and the lay public. It presents a common framework bringing medical-quality issues into the mainstream of the debate over the future of America's health care system. A literature search, field observations of those at the cutting edge of quality measurement and management efforts, and extensive interviews with experts are used. A conceptual framework is developed for combining pieces of the medical-quality puzzle including: health status questionnaires for ambulatory care; computerized monitoring of intensive care; and process standardization of routine inpatient care. The overall focus is on how this knowledge can change patients' lives.