ABSTRACT
As chapter 6 showed, developing a useful outcomes assessment system requires careful consideration of many basic but often overlooked issues that are critical to its success. Arriving at the final look and feel of the system can be a long, arduous and frequently stressful undertaking. If done properly, however, it can yield a great payoff in terms of the information it will yield and the savings from the wasted effort that otherwise would result from poor planning. But deciding on who, what, when and how to measure, as well as how to use the resulting information, is only half the battle. The program must be implemented. One must now begin the task of developing the structure and processes for gathering, transmitting, storing, processing, analyzing, and reporting outcomes data and information. Issues related to the implementation of the system into the MBHO’s daily operations warrant at least the same careful consideration that is afforded to the design of the system. Whereas design flaws limit the amount of useful information, flaws and oversights in the implementation plan can cause the system to crash, yielding no useful information. Instead, time, effort, and resources are wasted, and the credibility of the responsible party may be lessened or lost.
