Baseline data in quality improvement refers to which of the following?

• A. Target specifications
• B. Forecasted future performance
• C. Current performance data collected before improvements
• D. Post-implementation data

Answer: (C)

Baseline data are the current performance measurements captured before any improvement work. They provide the starting point to compare against after implementing changes, so you can see how much, if any, the process has improved. By comparing post-implementation results to this starting point, you can quantify the effect of the interventions. Baseline data are not the target specifications (the desired level), not forecasted future performance (predicted), and not post-implementation data (collected after changes).