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True and Measurable Quality

Clinical outcome systems are the study of a patient's recovery from their initial visit to the doctor to their return to work or activity. The outcome data allows doctors to monitor each patient's progress and compare it to other patients with the same problem. Such tracking systems assure the doctor that the highest quality treatment was delivered. Clinical outcome systems provide quantifiable data based on the patients experiences, feelings and treatment.

The last misconception about quality is that "quality" is like a destination. In reality, quality is a journey where you never arrive. You are continually striving to improve.

It is our hope that by continually measuring ourselves, we will continue to improve the quality of care provided to patients, as well as remain sensitive to patient satisfaction.

Home >> Clinical Outcomes

Clinical Outcomes

There is a lot of confusion about the word "quality." In healthcare, everyone claims to have high quality, except few providers offer data to prove it.

For example, it is amusing to those outside of the healthcare industry that every healthcare provider claims to have high quality. But as any expert in quality management will argue, if you're not measuring your performance, you have no business whatsoever making claims about quality.

Experts in quality management define high quality as "a reduction of variation about the mean." In automobiles, quality manufacturing means that the distance between a fender and a hood is the exact same distance from car to car.

Unfortunately, in healthcare, there can be a lot of variation. And that can be especially true in the field of back care. A person with back pain can visit several different doctors and get several different diagnoses and treatments.

About Outcomes

The first step toward improving quality is to collect data that documents patient severity at the time of their first appointment. Post-care, the functional status of the patient should be measured, along with patient satisfaction. SpineAustin is one of the few physician groups in Texas doing these clinical outcome studies for the purpose of continually improving the quality of care provided to patients.

Select the above image to view SpineAustin's latest Clinical Outcomes Report Card.

Centers of Excellence represent the future of medicine for complex problems like back and neck pain. The trend in medicine is to explore nonsurgical solutions to various health problems. The same trend is occurring in the area of spine care.

The TRUE definition of quality is reduction of variation about the mean. As quality experts note, unless you have data, you have no business talking about quality. SpineAustin was the first spine center in the region to report outcomes.