• Outstanding research
The measures of the quality of medical care are used to understand the impact of interventions when implemented on real world medical care systems and environments. These measures are used to assess the effectiveness of treatments and to understand access to care, care provision processes, patient care perceptions and other factors that can affect patients and their satisfaction with treatment.
Measures of medical care can help patients and their doctors understand and choose care options that best meet their needs. They can also be used to monitor and improve the delivery of interventions, promote best practices and improve attention for all.
The three main types of measures used to evaluate the quality of medical care are:
- Structural quality measures: These measures evaluate whether the supplier or organization has the infrastructure and capacity to provide care to patients.
- Process quality measures: These measures evaluate whether patients receive the care they should.
- Result quality measures: These measures Evaluate whether the care that patients receive improve their health and functioning.
The use of quality measures focused on results is common for many physical health conditions. For example, quality measures centered on diabetes could measure the number of diabetes patients who meet the objectives for blood sugar control after treatment. However, very few quality measures focused on the result for mental illnesses have been developed.
What studies are being financed by NIH?
To help fill this emptiness, national health institutes have financed six projects to develop, prove and validate quality measures focused on results for mental health. As part of these projects, researchers must participate and present their measures to regulatory or government bodies, such as the Medicare and Medicaid Services Center or the Battelle Association for Quality Measurement. The support of these regulatory agencies helps to facilitate the implementation and use of a measure by health plans, medical care payers (such as insurance companies), doctors and patients.
NIH’s support for these projects is one of the many ways in which the institute is working to increase accessibility and availability of evidence -based mental health treatments.
The six financed projects are:
- Quality measures to advance the prevention and care of suicide in all health systems
Researchers will develop a set of measures in the suicide of ideation and attempt (fatal and non -fatal). They will also develop measures for suicide risk detection and evaluation, safety planning and specialized monitoring care. - Measurement of what the patient matters with the patient measurement measures aimed at objectives for people with serious mental illnesses
Researchers will create results focused on the person of the quality of care aimed at objectives for people with serious mental illnesses, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. In care -directed care, patients and doctors work together to create individualized treatment objectives based on the desired results of patients. - MEASUREMENT OF PERSONALIZED LIFE
Researchers will develop an evaluation to compare the quality of life of patients who experience different physical and mental health conditions. There is no measure that can be used to evaluate the quality of life in many mental and physical health conditions, which makes this an important gap area. - Development and proof of a measure of quality results of pediatric anxiety
The researchers project will develop two complementary measures of quality of pediatric anxiety results. The first will measure if patients are responding to anxiety treatment, and the second will evaluate whether patient anxiety refer. Researchers will also determine if anxiety results vary according to social risk factors and other patient characteristics, then determine the best way to implement and use measures for quality improvement. - Identify and address bias in quality and anxiety quality measures
Researchers will examine the characteristics of the patient that lead to lower medical care scores among populations that experience mental health disparities. Then, researchers will use what they learn to create new depression and anxiety measures centered on results with reduced bias and greater precision. - A measure focused on the results of the quality of mental health care based on standardized symptoms informed by the patient
Researchers will develop a new measure of mental health quality focused on the results that can be used in different mental health diagnoses. The measure, which is based on reports of routine symptoms by patients, may analyze the results at the level of supplier, clinic, organization or health plan, which makes it useful in different environments and populations.
