Does It Work? The Outcomes of Medical Interventions

The focus of this article is on contemporary roots of medical care quality measurement, while it also examines some of the most important historical precedents. Specifically, it singles out Dr. Ernest Avery Codman and his early 20th-century work emphasizing the assessment of outcome as the paramount indicator of medical care quality. The standard that he set for himself and others is the one that late 20th-century researchers must uphold, and to which we must answer.