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Merulan

Metrics, objectives, and outcomes

Metrics define a measure, Objectives set a target, and Outcomes retain a deliberate claim from measured evidence.

Metrics, objectives, and outcomes separate what you measure, what you want, and what you record in Quality & Measurement. A Metric defines a measure. An Objective sets its target. An Outcome keeps a result that a person chose to record.

Ownership

A Metric defines the evidence source, unit, population, and meaning of time for a measure. The same number can mean different things when any of those change. An Objective binds a target to an exact Metric revision and a bounded time range. Setting that target records intent. The Objective does not establish achievement or create an Outcome.

Lifecycle

Metrics and Objectives keep their revisions in the Workspace. A plan checks a proposed change. Apply commits the reviewed plan. A change in meaning can require a separate resource instead of a revision. Retained evidence still names the definition it used.

An Outcome is append-only. A member deliberately records it for a finished time range. Merulan reads the exact Metric revision's evidence and keeps the observed value. A later correction is another Outcome. It does not overwrite the earlier claim.

Record a result

An Outcome needs a closed time range, an observation time, and an exact Metric revision. A member must choose to record it. An Objective and Product or intervention links can give the claim context. Record an Outcome owns the request fields, permissions, and response.

The returned Outcome is the kept claim. A matching request key returns the existing Outcome. A key that names a different claim is refused. A dashboard read alone cannot record an Outcome, even when it displays the same value.

Boundaries

A Metric measures. It is not a policy. A Constraint supplies the rule for an assessment. An Outcome records a chosen result, not Constraint configuration. Recording it does not run a quality check or resolve an Alert.

Outcome links to Products or interventions record associations, not proof of cause. Units also carry meaning: evidence in a different unit cannot become the Metric's value through a display change.

Failures

An Outcome is refused when its evidence produces no observed value. A missing or denied source cannot be replaced with a caller's number. Merulan also refuses a supplied value, an unfinished time range, an automatic read, or a unit mismatch. Read the Outcome refusal contract to distinguish those causes before recording again.

A Metric revision must be active and addressable in the Workspace. A name alone cannot stand in for the exact revision required by the claim.

Recovery

An Outcome recovery repairs the claim's evidence or inputs before another recording. Restore the evidence read, select the intended Metric revision, and check the time range and unit. Reuse the key only for the same claim. Use a new key when recording a corrected claim, because an Outcome cannot be edited after it is kept.

For a configuration conflict, reread the current Metric or Objective and create a fresh plan. Apply only the plan you reviewed. For QUALITY_CONFIGURATION_SEMANTIC_SUCCESSOR_REQUIRED, create a new Metric identity for the changed meaning. A change to its unit, population, time, supported level, or business meaning cannot revise the existing Metric identity.