ICHOM - International Consortium of Outcome Measurements

The International Consortium of Outcome Measurements (ICHOM) was founded in 2012 by Professor Michael Porter of Harvard Business School, Professor Martin Ingvar of the Karolinska Institute, and Dr. Stefan Larsson of Boston Consulting Group. ICHOM is an independent, not-for-profit organization that is strongly anchored in the healthcare provider, scientific and patient communities.¹ The consortium seeks to promote comprehensive standardized healthcare outcome measurements and align outcome measurement efforts globally. Its ethos pivots on the simple concept that if you do not measure, you cannot improve.

ICHOM’s mission is to enable and facilitate the implementation of Value-Based Healthcare (VBHC) delivery across the world and to promote knowledge exchange pertaining to best practices across varying healthcare systems. Their strategy is cemented in Porter’s VBHC framework published in 2006.²

Through enabling healthcare providers to collect Patient-Reported Outcome Measurements (PROMs) and publishing these learnings, providers and patients are more equipped in making informed decisions with regards to their healthcare and services.1 Moreover, this lends itself to quality improvement as outcomes data can aid care providers to evaluate their performance and to compare and contrast with their colleagues nationally and internationally to strive for better outcomes at reduced costs through investment in services that achieve results.1

ICHOM strives to realize their aspirations through the creation and provision of standard sets that are free of charge as they believe that money should not be a barrier to measure outcomes. To date, ICHOM has developed more than 40 standard sets with the core activity of the organization focusing on developing international standard sets of outcomes for a widening array of medical conditions from mental health to diabetes. Such sets are developed in collaboration with international thought leaders, healthcare providers and most importantly patients and are scrutinized to meet the highest standards of accountability and review.³