RT Book, Section A1 Lipshutz, Angela K. M. A1 Gropper, Michael A. A2 Oropello, John M. A2 Pastores, Stephen M. A2 Kvetan, Vladimir SR Print(0) ID 1136419053 T1 Outcomes Research and Reporting T2 Critical Care YR 1 FD 1 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9780071820813 LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1136419053 RD 2024/10/14 AB KEY POINTSOutcomes research evaluates the effects of medical care and the health care process on individual and societal health.Outcomes research seeks to understand the effectiveness of an intervention rather than its efficacy. It is this focus, not the methodology employed, that differentiates outcomes research from traditional clinical research.Commonly used outcome measures include mortality, health status, cost, and quality measures.Although outcomes research is not defined by a specific methodology, outcomes researchers often utilize observational study designs and methods from the social sciences. The use of large administrative datasets is increasingly popular.The major limitations of observational studies are bias and confounding.Matching, stratification, multivariate analysis, propensity scores, and instrumental variables are tools used to adjust for confounding.Outcomes researchers in the intensive care unit face unique challenges due to the breadth of patients, diseases, therapies, providers, and health care delivery models used in critical care.