This paper is based on work undertaken by the National Institute for Nursing to establish mechanisms to enable purchasers to be more explicit about purchasing health visiting services by the commissioning health authority. The paper describes work undertaken to identify current issues, through selected reviews of the literature, the use of questionnaires, interviews with key stakeholders and, as a result, the development of an 'ideal model for practice' for health visitors. The development of possible outcome measures for health visiting practice is also considered in the context of changing health-care demand and delivery which is both a feature and the future of community care.