The first book to focus on measuring the basic processes of mental healthcare, such as access, detection, treatment appropriateness, safety and continuity of care, Improving Mental Healthcare: A Guide to Measurement-Based Quality Improvement integrates practical information about quality measures-such as their clinical logic, validity and basis in scientific evidence—into a highly readable guide on how to implement measures and use the results to improve quality of care.

Improving Mental Healthcare examines the clinical, policy, and scientific underpinnings of process measurement, a widely used method of assessing quality of mental healthcare. It describes the use of measurement to improve quality, promote accountability, encourage evidence-based practice, and shape incentives to favor delivery of high-quality care.

Divided into two sections totaling 14 chapters, the first section describes factors that led to a nationwide emphasis on improving quality of care, major approaches to quality assessment, considerations in selecting measures, as well as how to analyze and interpret measure results. The second section summarizes information on more than 300 quality measures, including their clinical rationale, specifications, sources of data, supporting evidence, readiness for use, and—where available—data on reliability, validity, results, case-mix adjustment, standards, and benchmarks.

Improving Mental Healthcare helps clinicians, managers, administrators, payers, purchasers, accreditors, consumer groups, and other stakeholders meet national mandates to assess and improve quality of care by providing the following tools and guidance:

• Results from the National Inventory of Mental Health Quality Measures, a federally funded study summarizing clinical, technical, and scientific properties of more than 300 process measures

• A user-friendly format that helps potential measure users find quality measures that reflect their priorities and meet their needs

• Guidance for healthcare organizations and clinicians on how to integrate measurement into a comprehensive approach to quality management

• An understanding of the relationship between process measurement and other approaches to quality assessment, in particular outcomes assessment-the focus of a companion guide, Outcome Measurement in Psychiatry: A Critical Review (APPI 2002)

Improving Mental Healthcare, which includes extensive references as well as useful figures and tables illustrating key concepts, is essential reading for practicing clinicians, healthcare managers, medical students and psychiatric residents—who must now meet ACGME requirements to learn about quality assessment and improvement—as well as members of oversight organizations and consumer advocacy groups. It will prove invaluable for healthcare organizations seeking to improve quality of care, clinical training programs, and courses on quality assessment, healthcare management, and mental health policy.