Conducting Health Outcomes Research / Edition 1

by Robert L. Kane, David M. Radosevich

Overview

Conducting Health Outcomes Research serves as the definitive guide to successful investigation of health care outcomes and the key resource for ensuring quality care. As consumer, insurer and government demands for quality health care increase, the field of research required to measure such quality stands to grow exponentially. Conducting Health Outcomes Research brings together the practical, actionable information needed to conduct research on health outcomes, with the goal of measuring the quality of the care being delivered. The book details the methodology for performing successful research in this growing field: from formulating models, choosing study design, measuring and gathering data to assessing and presenting results. The text dually covers risk adjustment and the interplay of demographic, psychological and social factors. Conducting Health Outcomes Research answers the growing call for evidence-based practice, comparative effectiveness reviews and overall quality assurance in health care.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763786779
Publisher:	Jones & Bartlett Learning
Publication date:	09/08/2010
Edition description:	1
Pages:	354
Sales rank:	772,413
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Robert Kane, MD, holds an endowed chair in Long-term Care and Aging at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, where he was formerly the Dean. He directs the University of Minnesota's Center on Aging, the Minnesota Area Geriatric Education Center, the Clinical Outcomes Research Center, and an AHRQ-funded Evidence-based Practice Center. He has conducted numerous research studies on both the clinical care and the organization of care for older persons, especially those needing long-term care. He is the author or editor of 31 books and more than 470 journal articles and book chapters on geriatrics and health services research. He has analyzed long-term systems both in this country and abroad. Recent books include The Heart of Long-term Care, Assessing Older Persons, the 6th edition of Essentials of Clinical Geriatrics, the 2nd edition of Conducting Health Care Outcomes Research, and Meeting the Challenge of Chronic Illness. He and his sister, Joan West, have written an account of the struggles to get adequate long-term care for their mother, It Shouldn’t Be This Way. That experience led to his founding a national organization dedicated to improving long-term care, Professionals with Personal Experience with Chronic Care (PPECC), which has over 800 members. He is a graduate of Harvard Medical School. His current research addresses both acute and long-term care for older persons, with special attention to the role of managed care, chronic disease, and disability, as well as systematic reviews of the literature on various topics. Dr. Kane has consulted to a number of national and international agencies, including the World Health Organization's Expert Committee on Aging. He has received the President’s Award from the American Society on Aging and the Polisher Award from the Gerontological Society of America, the Enrico Greppi Prize from the Italian Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics, and the British Geriatrics Society Medal for the Relief of Suffering amongst the Aged. He was elected to the University of Minnesota’s Academic Health Center’s Academy for Excellence in Health Research.

David M. Radosevich, PhD., R.N. is an epidemiologist and biostatistician at the University of Minnesota conducting health outcomes research in the Academic Health Center. He is a co-founder of the Health Outcomes Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and supporting outcomes research. He cofounded and served as the Director of Transplant Information Services and served as the Deputy Director of the Clinical Outcomes Research Center in the University of Minnesota, School of Public Health. He has participated in numerous projects measuring health outcomes and quality of care at the level of community, health plan and medical group practice. In addition to collaborating in observational studies in the Division of Transplantation at the University of Minnesota and the Schultze Diabetes Institute, Dr. Radosevich works closely with in studies on donor management and the donor family experience. Dr. Radosevich teaches health outcomes research in the School of Public Health

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction to Outcomes Research
Chapter 2 Models and Causal Thinking
Chapter 3 Outcomes Research Study Designs
Chapter 4 Measurement
Chapter 5 Generic Health Outcomes Measures
Chapter 6 Health-related Quality of Life
Chapter 7 Condition-Specific Measures
Chapter 8 Satisfaction with Care
Chapter 9 Demographic, Psychological, and Social Factors
Chapter 10 Treatment and Interventions
Chapter 11 Risk Adjustment
Chapter 12 Methods for Collecting Health Outcomes and Related Data
Chapter 13 Analysis and Visual Display of Health Outcomes Research Data
Chapter 14 Making Sense of It All: Interpreting the Results

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Mary E Charlton, PhD (University of Iowa College of Public Health)
Description: This book describes design issues, outcome measures, risk adjustment, and other important issues/topics pertinent to conducting health outcomes research.
Purpose: Although not expressly stated, the purpose appears to be to provide a basic understanding of issues related to outcomes research, as well as a high-level road map for conducting outcomes research. This is a worthy objective given the growing importance of outcomes research initiatives (quality improvement, comparative effectiveness, etc.).
Audience: The book is intended for students with varying degrees of clinical and epidemiologic background and researchers new to outcomes research.
Features: After describing the reasons for the growing need for, and importance of, outcomes research, the book explains the fundamental design issues. It covers a broad array of outcome measures and discusses risk adjustment and other pertinent issues related to outcomes research. It also specifically addresses data collection and analytic methods at a high level before discussing the display and interpretation of results. Several helpful tables compare different tools and methods. For example, one table displays the health domains covered by each of the commonly used, health-related, quality of life instruments. There are good discussions and comparisons of various risk adjustment methods, albeit at a fairly high level. It would have been helpful if the book included scenarios/vignettes with discussion questions for each chapter to help students understand the potential applications of the various methods and principles, but the information is presented in a clear and straightforward manner.
Assessment: This is a comprehensive book written at a level appropriate for graduate students and researchers that can serve as a valuable resource for them. I would consider using this book in a course intended for students seeking degrees in epidemiology, health services research, and public health.

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