Multidimensional Approaches to Quality Measurement and Performance Improvement in the Ideal Crisis System

• Published in: The Psychiatric clinics of North America Vol. 47; no. 3; pp. 457 - 472
• Main Authors: Hopper, Ken, Pinheiro, Angela, Shoyinka, Sosunmolu, Parks, Joe, Minkoff, Kenneth, Shaw, Billina, Goldman, Matthew L., Balfour, Margaret E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01-09-2024
• Subjects: Crisis intervention; Crisis Intervention - methods; Emergency psychiatric services; Healthcare quality indicators; Hotlines; Humans; Mental health services; Mental Health Services - standards; Quality Improvement; Crisis intervention; Healthcare quality indicators; Quality improvement; Mental health services; Emergency psychiatric services; Hotlines
• ISSN: 0193-953X; 1558-3147; 1558-3147
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psc.2024.04.002

This work expands on the National Council for Mental Wellbeing whitepaper Quality Measurement in Crisis Services. The authors present 2 approaches to measure development: The first maps flow through the crisis continuum and defines metrics for each step of the process. The second uses the mnemonic ACCESS TO HELP to define system values, from the perspective of various stakeholders, with corresponding metrics. The article also includes case examples and discusses how metrics can align multiple components of a crisis system toward common goals, strategies for using metrics to drive quality improvement initiatives, and the complexities of measuring and interpreting data.