Routine assessment of the quality of mental healthcare in the U.S. could be used to detect variations in care, drive quality improvement, facilitate oversight, and inform selection of providers and health plans. Hundreds of process measures have been proposed by dozens of organizations to be used for these purposes (in conjunction with measures of outcome, satisfaction, etc.). The multitude of measures has increased the burden on providers, facilities and plans, as each government agency, MCO, and accreditor has issued unique measures and specifications. Moreover, measures vary in their research foundation, reliability, and validity. This presentation reports on an AHRQ and SAMHSA-funded initiative that has: 1) inventoried attributes of existing process measures; 2) assessed their empirical foundation; 3) employed a modified Delphi process to assess their meaningfulness and feasibility; and 4) identified a set of core measures based on the empirical data, quantitative stakeholder assessments, and dimensions of U.S. mental healthcare system. To ensure broad input, participants in the Delphi panel included individuals from JCAHO, NAMI, APA, SAMHSA, employer purchaser groups, MCOs, delivery systems, and state mental health departments. Panelists included consumers, families, clinicians, administrators, and researchers with expertise in performance measurement. The panel included individuals from each large U.S. geographical region, major racial and ethnic groups, and each mental health specialty (e.g., social workers, psychologists, nurses, and physicians). Convergence of diverse measurement efforts is expected to reduce reporting burdens, facilitate comparisons across sites, and focus further development and testing on the most promising measures in the highest priority areas. See www.cqaimh.org
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to:
Keywords: Quality of Care, Consensus
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
Disclosure not received
Relationship: Not Received.