Case classification and quality of care: issues to consider before making the investment.

Hospitals are considering adoption of patient classification systems, in part, because of their desire to create a clinically meaningful data base for quality assurance and monitoring. But before they make the substantial financial investment such a system requires, hospital personnel should be sure it is appropriate for their institution. The system should be reliable, medically meaningful, and useful in differentiating cases in which care was poor. The classification components should be easily available from the hospital's standard information. The cost of the system and its impact on staff should also be considered.