Measuring the benefit of performance improvement and decision support.

In an effort to provide high quality care in a more cost-effective manner, health care providers have found it necessary to implement a series of decision support strategies designed to improve outcomes of care. While each of these strategies has measurable benefits, each comes along with additional costs. As more and more technology becomes available and more labor resources are devoted to these efforts, it becomes crucial to be able to assess the costs and benefits of these programs. A return-on-investment methodology is used to assess the financial impact of service-related operating expenses compared to revenue gains from service delivery. However, unlike traditional return-on-investment models, in health care, benefits are frequently gained from cost avoidance rather than from revenue enhancement activities. This article will describe a methodology for measuring the direct and indirect costs and qualitative and quantitative benefits of decision support activities.