The eight dimensions (criteria) in which mental health services are evaluated are as

follows:
1. Appropriateness of services provided
a. The number of chronic patients hospitalized in psychiatric hospitals rather than
rehabilitation in an Outpatient Setting. It is a structural indicator of the mental
health system, which indicates the adequacy or inadequacy of outpatient
psychiatric structures.
b. Number of Cases Treated without Indication
2. Accessibility of patients to services provided
a. Waiting Days for Evaluation in the Outpatient Clinic
3. Acceptability of the services from the patients
a. Average Patient Satisfaction Rating
b. Number of Patients Using the Suggestion/Complaint Box
4. Competence of mental health care providers
5. Effectiveness of mental health professionals
a. Percentage of Patients Who Have Improved as a Result of Treatment
b. Standard outcome measures, e.g., improvement or remission in Patient Health
Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scores – or functioning
6. Therapeutic continuity in the mental health system
a. Appropriate documentation in the system
7. The efficiency of health professionals
a. Number of Patients per Physician per Day, in the Outpatient Clinic: Time is a
limiting factor in the number of patients that each psychiatrist can see per day of
an outpatient clinic. When there are many patients per psychiatrist per day of
outpatient care, the time available per patient is less, resulting in a decline in the
quality of service provided.
b. The performance target is that the number of patients is about 10 per day in the
outpatient clinic and certainly not more than 20
8. The safety of patients and health care providers.
Mental health quality measures: key examples
Description
Structure Are adequate personnel,
training, facilities, quality
improvement infrastructure,
information technologies, and
policies available for
providing care?
Process Are evidence-based processes
of care delivered?
Outcome Does care improve clinical
outcomes?
Examples
Adequate number of
components available in
assertive community
treatment program
Availability of mental health
specialists in primary care
practices
Presence of a mental health
care manager
Percent of patients in mental
health program who have
documented substance use
screening
Receipt of adequate dose of
psychotherapy
Outpatient follow-up within 7
days after mental health
hospitalization discharge
Functioning (e.g., assessed by
WHO-DAS)
Employment (% patients
returning to work)
Symptoms (e.g., depressive,
assessed by PHQ-9)
Recovery
References:
- Samartzis, L., & Talias, M. A. (2019). Assessing and Improving the Quality in Mental
Health Services. International journal of environmental research and public
health, 17(1), 249. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17010249
- Measuring and improving the quality of mental health care: a global perspective
Amy M. Kilbourne Kathryn Beck Brigitta Spaeth-Rublee Parashar Ramanuj Robert W.
O'Brien Naomi Tomoyasu Harold Alan Pincus