Report from the Third Consensus Conference on Health Indicators - ARCHIVED

Health indicators are measures of health and of the factors which influence health. As such they can be used to inform health policy, manage the health care system, enhance our understanding of the broader determinants of health, as well as to identify gaps in the health status and outcomes for specific populations. While there are countless indicators that could be calculated, the challenge is to identify which are the most important to measure and track; what types of indicators best reflect the needs of those who use them; which of the current indicators are no longer relevant and may therefore be dropped or replaced by more suitable measures; and finally, how can the cross-cutting dimension of equity be addressed in the evaluation of the indicator set. These and other questions were discussed at the Third Health Indicators Consensus Conference, held in March 2009. The results of the conference are summarized in this report.