ABSTRACT
Outcomes assessment had its beginnings in the business world, where the approach has long been used for the evaluation of accounting and financial performance, reporting, and the comparison of performance across multiple organizations or divisions. Performance measurement was also widely adopted in health care, where measurement and reporting systems are used in emergency situations, but more routinely to track performance in areas such as treatment outcomes, hospital occupancy, emergency room wait times, average length of patient stays, lab turnaround time, and patient satisfaction. The assessment of the quality of the work within higher education has always been important in concept and practice; however, what is assessed, how it is assessed, and the terms used to describe the activity have evolved considerably over time. In interpreting measurement data and its implications, setting performance targets, or identifying gaps or deficiencies, outcomes can be compared to previous results and to pertinent data from peers, aspirants, or leaders at one’s own or another institution.
