OUTCOME DATA
The AVMC has been conducting an outcome study and analysis. This has been put in place in order to gather objective retrospective data relating to dog, cat and horse (canine, feline and equine) cases treated at the AVMC. Results are published here, as they evolve, in the interests of transparency.
In the first instance, this work will collect sequential client reports, giving a ‘score' to each reporting event, as follows:
| Major worsening | Moderate worsening | Minor worsening | No change | Minor improvement | Moderate improvement | Major improvement |
|
-3 |
-2 |
-1 |
0 |
+1 |
+2 |
+3 |
These are client assessments, compared to the condition at first appointment. Two charts are presented, one to show each of the above seven categories separately and one to compare the ‘negatives' (number showing worsening), the ‘zeros' (number failing to change) with the ‘positives' (those showing improvement). Each of these values will also be shown as percentages. This study only relates to dogs, cats and horses, at present.
| July 2007 results | August 2007 results | Running total July-August results |
Future plan: A later analysis of the data will follow each new appointment through, to assess the actual outcome of each case. As yet, it is too early to collect that data. It may also be possible to analyse the data in terms of each condition treated and by species, to offer a guide to prognosis in named conditions.
Data so far harvested provide very encouraging results. An overall positive report rate of about 90% has been recorded to date, taking into account every case treated (in other words, regardless of conventional prognosis). These include, of course, cancer cases, CDRM, severe arthritis etc. We do not ‘select' cases that come to the practice. This outcome is even more encouraging, bearing in mind that these are ‘referral' cases, which have already proved themselves to be very difficult and refractory to treatment. Please note, however, that this percentage level has been oscillating from a low of 86% to a high of 95%, because numbers are still relatively small (with only about 500 reporting events being recorded so far). We expect the figures to continue to oscillate until they stabilise, within a few months.
N.B.: Data includes repeat reports, on ongoing cases.
The results so far:
