Outcomes: Myth and Mystery?
Unless you have been unconscious for the past decade, you already know that the buzzword "outcomes measures" has been increasingly popular in health care circles as the presumed "magic bullet" to somehow rationalize both care and its reimbursement. Unfortunately, scientifically valid outcomes measures cost millions of dollars to develop making it virtually impossible for a small profession such as P&O to undertake such studies. [Interestingly, the insurance companies who use the "lack of objective outcomes" as an excuse to deny coverage have no interest in funding outcomes development studies!]
I have been an affiliate member of the Canadian Association for Prosthetists and Orthotists for decades, both to support the profession as well as to stay abreast of the achievements of our colleagues to the north. When the CAPO annual publication, Alignment, arrived recently, I was stunned and delighted to find an excellent and practical summary of outcomes measurements for prosthetics within.
The title of the article is In Search of Prosthetic Outcome Measures, and the author is Dr. Ed Lemaire, a longtime clinical researcher with the former Royal Ottowa Rehabilitation Center with a lifetime interest in P&O services and studies. Ed was kind enough to permit digitally reprinting the article in this Corner, and to obtain official permission from CAPO to do so. You can contact Ed to discuss the article or to ask questions at: elemaire@rohcg.on.ca