He was an advocate of hospital reform and is the acknowledged founder of what today is known as outcomes management in patient care.

Codman graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1895 and interned at Massachusetts General Hospital.

With an interest in health care quality, Dr. Codman also helped lead the founding of the American College of Surgeons and its Hospital Standardization Program.

He also established the first bone tumor registry in the United States,[4] an idea which had first been suggested by the British physician Sir Thomas Percival in 1803.

The Commission also established the Ernest A. Codman Award for the use of outcomes measures to advance the quality and safety of patient care.