There are serious problems with quality of mental health care in the U.S., including widespread gaps between evidence-based guidelines and current clinical practice, as well as problems with access, detection, continuity, equity and efficiency of care. Faced with these well-known deficits and requirement from accreditors and payers to address them, hospitals have invested substantially in programs to conduct measurement-based quality improvement (QI) activities. However, the extent to which these programs address priorities for improving mental health care is not known. Nor is it known whether these activities result in meaningful improvements in care. The long-term goal of our research program is to improve mental health by enabling healthcare organizations to identify meaningful problems with quality of care and address them effectively.
The specific aims of this R34 proposal are to: 1) identify the objectives for inpatient QI adopted by hospital psychiatry departments and compare them to a national, Institute of Medicine framework of improvement priorities; 2) identify organizational variables that influence departments' progress toward achieving their QI objectives; and 3) determine the 'fit' between these organizational variables and potential QI objectives addressing evidence-based practices for schizophrenia and depression. To accomplish these aims, we will conduct interviews with department leaders and survey inpatient clinicians in a representative sample of 32 hospital psychiatry departments in two large states. Based on a conceptual model grounded in organizational theory, we will use multivariate methods to test relationships between organizational variables and QI objectives, and use qualitative methods to identify facilitators and barriers to achieving improvement. The investigators are an experienced team from multiple disciplines: services research, organizational behavior, sociology/psychometrics, and statistics. In addition, policymakers and hospital leaders will participate in interpreting the results and translating them into policy and practice. The findings will provide the basis for an R01 study to develop and test an intervention to enable hospital psychiatry departments to adopt evidence-based QI objectives and implement them effectively.
| Stockdale, Susan E; Sherin, Jonathan E; Chan, Jeffrey A et al. (2011) Barriers and strategies for improving communication between inpatient and outpatient mental health clinicians. BMJ Qual Saf 20:941-6 |
| Hermann, Richard C; Chan, Jeffrey A; Zazzali, James L et al. (2006) Aligning measurement-based quality improvement with implementation of evidence-based practices. Adm Policy Ment Health 33:636-45 |
