Conducting outcomes research in pediatric palliative care.

Around the globe, health care costs continue to rise resulting in the emphasis on allocating scarce resources toward interventions that have been found to be cost- and clinically effective. Palliative care is no exception, yet the science of outcomes measurement in palliative care, and especially in pediatric palliative care, lags behind other disciplines. National and international experts and organizations have recognized the importance of outcomes measurement and have included this as a research priority. This article outlines some of the complexities of measuring outcomes in pediatric palliative care. It is recommended that national and international collaborations include representatives of the pediatric palliative care community.