Output Performance Measures

Output Performance Measures

Presentation Derived from Martin & Kettner’s Measuring the Performance of Human Service Programs, Sage, 1996

What Are Performance Output Measures

Broadly defined, output measures are anything that a system or human service program produces.

Output measures capture information about the type and amount of outputs produced by a system

Types of Output Performance Measures

Intermediate Outputs: products & services produced and consumed in production of final outputs (e.g. units of service)
Final Outputs: The end products of human service programs (e.g. service completions)

Units of Service Defined

A unit of service is a standardized measure used to determine and report how much service is provided by a human service program. I.E. it is a unit of service volume

Types of Units of Service

Information & Referral: One contact or one referral (contact or episode)
Home Delivered Meals: One meal, delivered, heated & served
Counseling Services: One hour (50 min.)

Selecting a Unit of Service

Step One: Convene a focus group broadly representative of the stakeholders involved in the human service program

Step Two: Brainstorm different unit of service options (episode, contact, material; time)

Selecting a Unit of Service

Step Three: Evaluate each option against the following 5 criteria

Utility: usefulness & relevance
Precision: accuracy
Feasibility: time & effort
Unit Cost Reporting: cost per unit of service
Consensus: agreement on service unit & implementation

Multiple Service Settings

Adult Day Care Services 1,000 days

Service Components

Transportation 1,900 trips
Meals 900 meals
Socialization & Rec. 5,200 hours
Health Screening 200 screens

Final Output Measures

Service Completions

Defined as one client completing treatment or receiving a full complement of services

Two Approaches to Developing Service Completions

Standardized Approach:

When a minimum number of services are required for clients to complete services then
A service completion is one client completing one treatment

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Two Approaches to Developing Service Completions

The Case Approach Plan

When clients receive varied units of serviced depending on individualized needs, then
A service completion is on client completing a case plan

11.

Service Completions & Client Outcomes

Outcome performance measures should only be completed for clients who clients who compliment a full compliment of services. I.E. efforts should only be directed toward service completions.