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When the patient's participation in a program comes to an end, an outcome may recorded; typically, this indicates the success or failure of the intervention in achieving its purposes. This is a new feature introducted in OpenMRS version 1.9. In earlier versions, these outcomes would have had to be terminal states of a workflow.
Thus there are two main ways of using Programs: (1) without workflows, in which program entry and exit dates plus program outcome would be used; (2) with workflows, in which the traversal of internal workflow states is recorded and terminal states record outcome.
The primary reason for using a program is where entry and exit dates for the program and its component workflow states are significant for reporting. The reporting module allows the selection of patients both on program and workflow state. Statistics which can be computed include median time spent in a workflow state, number of program participants in a particular workflow state on a particular date, outcome by initial state, etc.
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