Did the care process produce the desired outcomes?

This is where we broaden the variance definition the most. We consider not only clinical outcomes but, also, patient satisfaction, health status, costs, LOS, and any other meaningful measure. Effectiveness is in the eye of the beholder and each beholder (customer) has different measures of effectiveness.

Examples:

• Cost
• LOS
• Patient satisfaction
• Health status (SF-36, SF-12, SF-8, (SF-1?) or others)
• Unplanned post discharge events (readmissions, for example)