Outcome-based management and public health: the Oregon Benchmarks experience

Oregon is taking major steps toward monitoring health and nonhealth issues through the use of an outcome-based management approach called Benchmarks. Developed through a lengthy statewide consensus-building process, there are currently 272 goals, or Benchmarks, for the years 1995, 2000, and 2010, of which 54 are health related. Major effects on both the state and the local health departments include enhanced assessment activities, increased health planning, and improved collaboration both among health agencies and with other governmental and nongovernmental organizations.