About Outcome Measurement

2008 -2009

Activities undertaken with funding assistance from the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing(Quality through Outcomes 2008-2009 $693,000) including:

• poster, workshop and symposium presentations at the Australasian Mental Health Outcomes Conference held in Melbourne on 24-26 November 2009
• Victoria led a national project to develop resource for mental health staff in using the National Outcomes and Casemix Collection (NOCC) measures in clinical practice. This resulted in the collaboration, development and publication of Opportunities in practice: Outcome measurement in mental health. It was produced electronically in a dynamic format with navigation within the document as well as live links to relevant websites. The resource details strategies, principles and techniques for using consumer outcomes in clinical practice and is designed to be used in sections.
• communication with the sector through five outcome measurement (OM) bulletins (2008 - July, October, December and 2009 – February and June)
• time-limited working groups: consumer and carer consultant; clinical leaders
• development of a range of resource publications for consumers/carers and clinicians
• trial of a re-designed information sheet and detachable BASIS-32® form
• Make measures matter forum on 12.6.09 (10am-4.30pm) attended by 160 mental health staff (including consumer and carer consultants)

Request for Quotation procurement process in train for the trial of touch screen technology for direct consumer entry of the BASIS-32®. Trial will include software development (BASIS-32® and MHD consumer and carer experience of care adult consumer version), six week trial in seven adult clinical mental health services and evaluation

2007 - 2008

• QUATRO Bridging January - June 2007

• DHS, in collaboration with St Vincent’s Health provided QUATRO Bridging activities, and operated as an interim statewide service for OM. This enabled Victoria to maintain the gains made during 2005-2006, by bridging the interim period between the end of the QUATRO project funding and the beginning of QUATRO Vic.

• Updating the DHS OM Website
• Release Outcome Measurement Program Management Circular (July 2007)

Provision of $1.24m non-recurrent funding through Australian Government's Commonwealth Own Purpose Outlays (COPO) for 2007 - 2008:

• $890,000 for establishment of QUATRO Vic (statewide OM project including consumer and carer project) August 2007 - December 2008. The QUATRO clusters achieved a number of outcomes, however, the disjointed cluster model and sector based approaches have been unable to provide the leadership, consistency and accountability needed to fully embed OM in Victoria’s mental health system and underpin sustainability resulted in the establishment of a statewide team. Key activities included:

• OM Forum 15/2/08 was attended by 110 service sector staff and provided an opportunity to showcase application of OM in use across Victoria as well as some interstate presentations.
• Consumer and Carer Consultant Forum 17/7/08 was attended by 56 consumer and carer consultants from across Victoria including one from interstate and held in DHS. There were a number of presentations particularly related to roles and helpful supports for consumer and carer consultants as well as discussing several questions in small groups.
• Bi-monthly OM bulletins (10/07, 12/07, 03/08, 07/08) have been produced and disseminated across the sector in an effort to promote knowledge and awareness of OM developments and to reinforce and showcase examples of aggregate CM data.
• Development of ‘Outcome measurement with mental health consumers from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds A guide for clinicians’, brochure
• Field-work has also included - time-limited input into clinical meetings such as clinical reviews/handovers (over multiple sessions); workshop/information sessions with groups of team leaders; short tailored sessions with clinicians on specific topics on clinical use of OM; linkage facilitation across services with effective collection protocols/procedures; consumer and carer involvement; conference abstracts have been submitted and accepted for Winter Conference “Substance Use Across the Lifespan”, Evidence & Interventions; Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Conference 2008.

• $300,000 for a web-based outcome measurement reporting capability. Building on the reports developed by ROMP this project involved the development of dynamic web reporting tool available to all AMHS allowing services to interrogate their data for aggregate and drilled down reports. Key achievements include:

• Services logging into a DHS web environment and accessing dynamic OM reports OM compliance going up across the state
• Barwon data available for quarterly NOCC submissions
• Improved clinical interest in CMI/ODS and expected compliance improvement due to scheduled collection occasions

• $50,000 enhancing centralised data reporting functionality to facilitate quality of care analysis and performance benchmarking
• $240,000 Victoria received QTO funding to deliver a national project titled Enhancement of the utility of consumer outcome measures for collaborative care planning. Key achievements include:

• Consultation with colleagues in each Australian state and territory, consumer and carer advisors
• ‘Consumer Outcomes — Opportunities in Mental Health’ A resource for mental health staff was developed, edited, underwent design and small print run in August 2008

QTO 2008-2009 funding has been allocated to field-test this resource, revise and reproduce.

2006

In addition to ROMP and QUATRO, key achievements included:

• Development of consumer self-assessment promotional materials (DVD, brochure, flipper card and video) - developed by Western Cluster and funded by AMHOCN
• Development of clinical utility training materials - developed by AMHOCN in consultation with Western Cluster
• Provision of train-the-trainer (basic and clinical utility) by AMHOCN via the QUATRO clusters

Translation of BASIS-32®

2005 (June) –
2006 (Dec)

Provision of $1.9m non-recurrent funding through Australian Government's Commonwealth Own Purpose Outlays (COPO) for 2005 - 2006:

• $1.6m to establish Quality Through Outcomes (QUATRO) Network. QUATRO operating as a high-level peer-support network, where lead agencies pursued agreed objectives related to outcome measurement on behalf o the member agencies in their cluster. Lead agencies for QUATRO were Barwon Health: Western Cluster, Bayside Health (The Alfred): South East Cluster and St Vincent's Health: North East Cluster. The three QUATRO Clusters made reasonable progress though there were considerable difficulties with consistency of message and conflicts in governance across each cluster. Key achievements include:

• QUATRO Western Cluster: this cluster successfully pursued systematic engagement of consumer and carer consultants, including provision of training; policies and procedures template; development of the ‘Whose outcome is it anyway? Consumer Self Assessment in Mental Health promotional materials and the Clinical Utility training materials including DVD with AMHOCN.
• QUATRO South East Cluster: project was implemented in six phases including: establishing a committee structure; the scoping study; benchmarking and compliance statistics; consumer consultation and other working groups; training and sustainability through agreed protocols, procedures and research strategies. The South East project made considerable investment in training for mental health clinicians, development of a clinician prompt card as well as a survey of consumer consultants.
• QUATRO North East Cluster: content development with VTPU of ‘Outcome measurement with mental health consumers from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds A guide for clinicians’, brochure; negotiated for the NEVIL Workforce Development and Training cluster to integrate basic and refresher outcome measures training as part of the core business of NEVIL.; number of activities with consumer and carers including two workshops with consultants, one focus group with  consumers on the experience of completing outcome measures, information sessions with four local consumer and carer groups; quality improvement initiative was undertaken with four adult continuing care teams to trial the use of various outcome measures reports within clinical reviews, staff attitudes were assessed before, after the 12 week trial and again six months later; publication - Trauer, T., Gill, L., Pedwell, G., & Slattery, P. Routine outcome measurement in public mental health services — what do  clinicians think? Australian Health Review, May 2006. Vol 30 No. 2.

• $300,000 Reporting on Outcome Measures Project (ROMP) - strengthen capacity of Mental Health Branch to analyse and report on outcome measurement data, key achievements have included:

ROMP has developed aggregate OM reports for each Area Mental Health Service, generated for CAMHS, Adult and Aged persons grouping in the three settings of Inpatient, Ambulatory and Community Residential. The reports contain averages per instrument/collection occasion as well as compliance and are disseminated each quarter to CEO and Area Managers. This project provided the platform for web- based reporting project.

2004

Key achievements include:

• OM training provided to Primary Mental Health and Early Intervention Teams
• Licence Agreement for the use of the BASIS-32® is finalised
• Migration of Round 1 data to RAPID/CMI completed
• A further $0.7m in support funding is provided to Victorian sector
• Rollout of OM across all age groups and service types is completed
• Version 2 of the Wellbeing Reporting Tool is produced and rolled out
• Evaluation of the training strategy completed

A series of OM information brochures for consumers and carers is produced in English (June) and a range of community languages (October)

2003

The highlights for the year are:

• All Victorian Health Services completed their local OM Implementation Plan
• More than 80 mental health professionals participated in User Acceptance Testing for the Wellbeing Reporting Tool
• Version 1 of the Wellbeing Reporting Tool is completed and rolled out to the sector, together with version 2.1 of RAPID/CMI
• $2m support funding provided to the Victorian sector
• In-depth OM training provided to approximately 700 clinical trainers
• OM training resource kit (manual, CD-ROM) produced

Statewide rollout of routine OM commenced in June 2003

2002

The Department of Human Services formally advises the sector of arrangements for Round 2 of OM implementation. Key achievements include:

• Information sessions
• Telephone survey
• Site visits
• Local OM Implementation Groups are convened and commence a review of business practices, clinical documentation and IT arrangements
• Best Practice Forums
• Launch of website
• Development of 'Wellbeing' module on RAPID/CMI to support OM data collection
• Development of standard reports for OM
• Support funding identified
• Statewide Reference Group reconvened

National Outcomes and Casemix Collection (NOCC) protocol is finalised and released.

2001

Victoria signs an Information Development Plan (IDP) with the Commonwealth Department of Health & Ageing. The Plan commits the State to a range of quality improvement initiatives, including the introduction of routine outcome measurement in public mental health services.
Statewide implementation of outcome measurement commences in NSW.

2000

OM training materials (manual, video) developed.
Round 1 of OM implementation in Victoria commences in adult mental health services. Participating agencies are:

• Barwon Health
• Grampians Psychiatric Services (Ballarat Health Service)
• St. Vincent's Hospital
• Maroondah Hospital (now Eastern Health)

The RAPID database goes live in October.

1999

Suite of measures for use in Adult Mental Health Services identified in DHS paper on Measuring Health Status and Outcomes in Victoria's Mental Health Services.
AHMAC National Mental Health Working Group releases a statement of National Mental Health Information Priorities
Bickman, Nurcombe et al publish Consumer Measurement Systems for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

1998

MH-CASC study completed and report published.

1997

Victorian statewide Outcome Measurement Reference Group established.
Stedman, Yellowlees et al publish Measuring Consumer Outcomes in Mental Health. Field Testing of Selected Measures of Consumer Outcomes in Mental Health. This report of the 1996 field trials emphasises the need to include consumers in the process and redirects the focus of OM from individual measures to the concept of a 'suite' of measures.

1996

Victorian field trial of the HoNOS.
Queensland field trial of the six measures identified in Andrews et al (1994) in a range of private and public sector clinical practice settings.

1995

Mental Health Classification and Service Costing (MH-CASC) study commences.

1994

Publication of Andrews, Peters & Teesson: The Measurement of Consumer Outcome in Mental Health. The report gives an overview of the field and recommends that six instruments be trialed for clinical use.

1993

AHMAC definition of a 'health outcome' formulated.
The 'Research & Development' phase of outcome measurement commences.

1992

The routine assessment of consumer outcomes is identified as an objective of the National Mental Health Strategy.
The Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS) are developed in the U.K