Assessing Hospital-Based Wellness Services using an Outcome Measurement System

This article describes the process and results of an effort to develop an outcome measurement system for evaluating and improving hospital-based wellness programs and services. The authors defined a set of outcome measures for each of the wellness programs and services offered by the hospital and piloted health-related outcome and patient satisfaction measures in the following four different types of programs: (a) a disease screening program (osteoporosis), (b) an educational program (diabetes), (c) an instructional participatory program (yoga and tai chi), and (d) a behavioral intervention program (group weight loss). These programs were chosen to represent the array of wellness programs and services available at the hospital. Results are reported for each pilot test, and recommendations are offered for dealing with issues and challenges encountered in developing a system for measuring wellness program performance.