Oral

There is an increasing emphasis on assessing outcomes in the healthcare system, as a way to determine the quality, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness of care as it is delivered to diverse patients. This session will explore aspects of health service methodology that may contribute to meeting program assessment, continuous quality improvement, and public health planning goals. We will begin with a description of the use of Institute of Medicine quality indicators to measure community health outcomes in asthma care, obesity prevention, injury, and mental health access and establish benchmarks for the future. The next presentation will focus on the idea of creating a public confidence index for healthcare similar to the Consumer Price Index. The next presenter will discuss integration of community indicator reports as a way to better assess health outcomes. We will next focus on the training and technical assistance needs of community-based organizations to conduct needs assessments and community-based research. Finally, we will have a presentation on the challenges of assessing systems change.

Session Objectives: At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to: • Understand how Institute of Medicine indicators for measuring quality of clinical care can also be used to measure community health • List three key indicators to assess public confidence in the health care system • Understand the relationship between the community environment and health outcomes • Understand the importance of providing training and technical assistance to build the capacity of community-based organizations to conduct needs assessments and community-based research • Recognize the difficulties inherent in assessing systems change

CE Credits: CME, Health Education (CHES), Nursing