Evidence for whom?: ASHA's National Outcomes Measurement System.

UNLABELLED: The growth of managed care and increasing demands by school systems resulted in of a number of new audiences looking for the evidence underlying the practice of speech-language pathology (SLP). Third-party payers, operating in an environment emphasizing "return-on-investment," sought data linking expenditures on SLP services with tangible outcomes affecting resource utilization, such as required level of care and ability to discharge. ASHA's National Outcomes Measurement System (NOMS) was developed to address these types of needs. This paper provides an overview of NOMS and its intended uses in the field. LEARNING OUTCOMES: (1) Readers will understand the rationale behind the development of NOMS. (2) Readers will be aware of the strengths and limitations of NOMS.