How is 'progress' best defined in a healthcare setting?

In a healthcare setting, 'progress' is best understood as significant steps completed in a patient's recovery or treatment journey. This definition emphasizes the noticeable advancements that a patient makes toward health goals, which can include improvements in symptoms, increased mobility, or successful management of a chronic condition. It denotes an overall positive trajectory in health and well-being rather than merely numeric measurements or specific treatments.

While quantifiable outcomes are important, they reflect more on the results rather than the process of improvement. Similarly, describing progress as a series of treatments overlooks the patient's individual experience and their subjective improvements along the way. Lastly, unchanging conditions clearly indicate a lack of progress, making this option contrary to the essence of what progress signifies in healthcare. Thus, significant steps completed encapsulate the holistic approach to assessing and defining progress in patient care.