Systemic Approach to Successful Quality Improvement in Behavioral Health

Organizations delivering behavioral health care are under increasing pressure from their patients, the community, The Joint Commission, and other stakeholders to provide care safely, efficiently, and effectively. Quality improvement methodology provides a unique way to address these needs. This article provides a rationale for utilizing quality improvement methodology in behavioral health, summarizes fundamental components of quality improvement, illustrates quality improvement methodology with pediatric behavioral health examples, describes resources available at one pediatric academic health center that could be replicated in other settings, and concludes with a discussion of how QI can be implemented in a variety of health-care settings, including private practices and community mental health systems.