Outcome studies in surgical research.

Providers, payers, buyers, and the public at large will continue to demand information regarding the quality of health care service. High quality clinical and functional data on the entire population would not only allow a better understanding of health outcomes after medical or surgical interventions but would also provide information regarding disease burden, the population at risk, and indications for treatment. We currently are dealing with two separate pieces of the puzzle. On the one hand, randomized clinical trials and observational studies continue to provide high quality information regarding small samples of the population. On the other hand, the analysis of large administrative data sets provides a broad overview of health care services and patient outcomes at the population level. To provide meaningful data regarding the quality of health care, we must go beyond morbidity and mortality rates and attempt to measure patient function at the population level.