A Primer on Clinically Important Outcome Values

➤ Clinically important outcome values allow physicians to provide patients with more realistic expectations regarding their treatment that are based on their specific demographics. ➤ Clinically important outcome values can vary for the same procedure or population depending on the method of calculation used, which raises the need for uniform ways to calculate and compare these values across populations and procedures. ➤ A shift in approach from focusing solely on significant outcomes, or p values, to considering both clinically important and significant outcomes will allow clinicians to provide more efficient care, in line with recent trends toward a value-based health-care system.