Mental health
Background of performance indicators
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Introduction
Mental health care is delivered by diverse providers operating in a variety of settings under different public and private governance, management and financial arrangements. As such, data are collected from multiple sources and for various purposes.
Health indicators are used to evaluate and monitor the health of the population and the success of the health system (AIHW 2016). They are statistics based on data collected from multiple sources to report on a particular aspect of health or on the performance of the health system (AIHW 2016).
Indicator sets can come from multiple government initiatives, frameworks and/or agreements with common or distinctive purposes and timeframes. Over time, a number of different mental health indicator sets have been developed to measure the performance and progress in the delivery of services across the mental health sector. However, there are considerable overlaps between these indicator sets and the aspects they are covering.
The indicators included in this reporting focus on the public mental health services that have been nationally agreed between the Australian and state and territory governments.
The following national initiatives and agreements provide general guidance on the development of mental health performance indicators over the years.
National Mental Health Performance Framework
The National Mental Health Performance Framework (NMHPF) aims to improve all health outcomes for Australians living with mental illness and ensure sustainability of the Australian health system. The framework is based on the Australian Health Performance Framework and supports Australian and state and territory governments’ commitment to improving accountability and transparency at the Mental Health Service Organisation level. There are 3 areas of the framework through which key questions are posed concerning how well the mental health system is performing (Figure 1).
Figure 1: The National Mental Health Performance Framework
Key Performance Indicators for Australian Public Mental Health Services
The key performance indicators for Australian Public Mental Health Services were developed to improve accountability and transparency and to address the Health System Performance of the NMHPF. The indicators cover the concepts of effectiveness, efficiency, appropriateness, access, continuity and capability, all central ideas to understanding how a mental health organisation performs.