The Making Cases Count intiative.

ABSTRACT

Given the challenges faced, how can homeopaths communicate the power and scope of the therapeutic system of homeopathy? Homeopaths need to communicate to patients, the public and media, other healthcare professionals, healthcare researchers, and funders of healthcare (healthcare insurers, those who commission healthcare services either in publicly funded healthcare systems such as the NHS or charities). Effective communication with these stakeholders requires information that is (a) easily understood, (b) credible, and (c) relevant. The patient's voice is the trusted, indisputable and easily understood common ground in homeopathy. Yet, the experiences of patients are rarely heard outside the profession of homeopathy. Homeopaths are in a unique position to make these voices heard by disseminating the results of their routine practice cases incorporating their patients' voices. The 'Making Cases Count' initiative has been created in order to bring about a culture where easily understood, trusted and salient information is regularly made available to all stakeholders in homeopathy. The Making Cases Count initiative supports, guides and incentives homeopaths to collect routine data with the aim of bringing about a culture where a significant proportion of homeopaths collect routine data from their patients in a format which will then be able to be transformed (i.e. anonymised, summarised and counted). This routine data requires numbers and categories to report the behavior and the perspective of patients receiving homeopathic treatment. This can be strengthened through the use of validated outcome measures in hearing patients' voices. When transformed, this routine data will then be able to inform homeopaths and more importantly other key stakeholders. It is now time to make patient cases count.