New Version of Behavioral Health Measures
to be Outcome-Oriented
From MHW,Vol.6,#29; 7-22-96
The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) last week released
a
draft of its latest set of managed care performance measures which it says
are more outcomes-oriented. NCQA expects to have a final versio early next
year. The draft comprises 75 measures in the reporting set and 30 measures
in the testing set. About one-third of the testing measures address
behavioral health issues.
Under ieffectiveness of care, the testing set includes measures for:
x Continuity of care for substance abuse.
x Substance abuse counseling for adolescents.
x Medication management for schizophrenia.
x Patient reported behavioral health.
x Treatment failure for substance abuse.
x Chemical-dependency screening.
x Diagnosis supporting the use of psycho-therapeutic drugs.
x Rate of continuation treatment for depression.
NCQA also is pursuing accreditation standards for behavioral health care
organizations.
The draft behavioral health care accreditation standards are available
for
review and comment at no charge from NCQAis World Wide Web site
http://www.neqa.org or by calling (800)
839-6487 for a hard copy with a fee
for duplication, shipping and handling.
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