Health-Related Quality of Life, Patient Outcome, and Managed Care: The Road Ahead

Abstract

The delivery of healthcare in the industrialized world is currently undergoing fundamental change due to a number of factors. These include market forces driving institutions to contain and reduce cost; the rapid emergence of new treatments; the recognition of unexplained regional variations in the delivery of care; and patients' increasing sophistication and involvement as consumers of healthcare resources. As a result, the practice of medicine is entering a new era of scrutiny. Demonstrating a treatment's safety and efficacy is no longer sufficient justification for its use. There is a need to evaluate the appropriateness of medical care based on both cost and patient outcomes measures, including health-related Quality of Life (HRQOL). This type of research is in the interests of healthcare provider organizations, physicians, and patients alike. Outcomes research in the GI diseases is expanding rapidly due to the potential for cost savings and increased quality of care. It is important that gastroenterologists become trained and take part in the design, conduct, and analysis of outcomes studies to maximize these gains.

Key Words:

• Cost-effectiveness analysis
• disease management
• health-related Quality of Life
• managed care
• outcomes research