Developing mental health-care quality indicators: toward a common framework

OBJECTIVE: Inconsistent performance measurement schemes hinder attempts to make international comparisons about mental health-care quality. This report describes a project undertaken by an international collaborative group that aims to develop a common framework of measures that will allow for international comparisons of mental health system performance. DESIGN: Representatives from each country submitted reports of quality measurement initiatives in mental health. Indicators were reviewed, and all measurable indicators were compiled and organized. Sample Twenty-nine programs from 11 countries and two cross-national programs submitted reports. METHODS: Indicators were evaluated according to measurable inclusion criteria. RESULTS: These methods yielded 656 total measures that were organized into 17 domains and 80 subdomains. CONCLUSIONS: No single program contained indicators in all domains, highlighting the need for a comprehensive, shared scheme for international measurement. By collecting and organizing measures through an inductive compilation of existing programs, the present study has generated a maximally inclusive basis for the creation of a common framework of international mental health quality indicators.