During the mid-1960's, recognition of the spiraling cost of health care motivated Congress to enact several major pieces of legislation designed to underwrite efforts to improve the delivery of health services. The increased level of federal fiscal participation in the health service system has forced greater consciousness of the need for better accountability of the effectiveness and efficiency of the allocation of the dollar. Demands were articulated for precision tools which could evaluate the input to output linkage between need and response; however, the tools were nascent and had limited applicability. Cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis are two procedures that have since been applied with varying levels of success. A third tool, also developed as an outgrowth of the desire for a more accurate characterization of the planning concerns of an efficient/effective health service system, is the general health status index.The purpose of this article is to provide the reader with a comprehensive review of the literature on general health status indexes. Common objectives and constraints are presented, as well as a discussion of the expanding role of general health status indexes.