Other Work

The PMHA Quality Improvement Project was directed toward improving outcomes for consumers within the context of the mental health services that are provided by private hospitals and psychiatrists in private practice. The intention was to make better use of the mechanism of the PMHA and its Centralised Data Management Service (CDMS). QIP contained a suite of four complementary activities which were undertaken within the context of the available funding. 

1. Implementation of Patient Experiences of Care (PMHA-PEx) Measure. During the course of QIP, this activity evolved into the development of a PMHA Patient Experiences of Care Measure (PMHA–PEx) for both overnight inpatient care and ambulatory care. We worked in close collaboration with the Australian Private Hospital’s Psychiatry Committee (APHA–PC) and the National Committee of the Private Mental Health Consumer Carer Network Australia (PMHCCN–NC) to develop a final set of items for the PMHA–PEx, which were then the subject of a Validation Study conducted in 2012.   After the final form of content and analysis and reporting framework is agreed then the PMHA–PEx Survey instrument together with PMHA–PEx related local analysis and reporting functionality will be integrated within the CDMS Hospital Standardised Measures Database (HSMdb). Implementation by Hospitals then will coincide with the release of the next version of the HSMdb in mid–2013. Hospitals will be provided with the Survey templates and a manual with suggestions about how to offer the Survey. That manual is being enhanced based on feedback from Hospitals.  This work builds on the findings of the CPoC Pilot Study described below.  All inquiries concerning the PMHA–PEx should be directed to the PMHA's CDMS Director, Allen Morris–Yates.   
      
2. Outcomes in Private Psychiatry Practice.  This QIP activity involved the establishment of a Private Psychiatrist Research Network (PPRN) and conducting a workload survey of psychiatrists who worked any amount of time in private practice, asking them to describe the full spectrum of the population they currently served (Psychiatrists Workload Survey). A total of 19 psychiatrists joined the PPRN, which included the 10 psychiatrists who comprise the Australian Medical Associations (AMA) Psychiatrists’ Group (AMAPG). After formal endorsement by the AMA and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP), the Psychiatrists' Workload Survey was pilot tested in November 2011 with members of the PPRN and AMAPG. In March 2012, the final survey was conducted online. The results were analysed and the PMHA Psychiatrists’ Workload Survey 2012 – Final Report was endorsed and released in December 2012. A copy of the full report can be obtained by clicking on the link below:
   
   Psychiatrist Workload Survey 2012 - Final Report
    
3. Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). The objective of this activity was to conduct a survey about the provision of psychological services to people with diagnoses of BPD who are admitted to private hospitals. A draft survey instrument was developed and, after consultation with the APHA–PC, several strategies were used to recruit as many Hospital Managers of private psychiatric hospitals, and Unit Heads of co–located psychiatry units in private hospitals as possible. The survey was conducted online during October 2012, achieving a response rate of 84%. The results were analysed and the PMHA Provision of Psychological Services for Borderline Personality Disorder in Private Hospital Settings – Final Report 2013 was endorsed and released in April 2013. A copy of the Report can be obtained by clicking on the link below.
   
   PMHA-QIP Hospitals Borderline Personality Disorder Survey - Final Report 2013
   
   
4. Internet Access to the PMHA’s Centralised Data Management Service (CDMS). At the beginning of QIP, the Commonwealth provided additional funding to enable the architecture for secure internet access for participating private hospitals and private health insurers to the data held by the PMHA’s CDMS to be put in place. An agreement titled, AMA Agreement for Internet Access to the Secure Areas of the Private Mental Health Alliance Centralised Data Management Service Website, is being completed in consultation with the AMA and the PMHA. Both the finalisation of the Agreement and testing of internet‐based access for private hospitals and private health insurers will be completed in 2013, as part of the CDMS Work Plan 2013-15. 

The Project commenced in January 2011 and was largely completed by March 2013, with outstanding matters incorporated into the work program for the PMHA’s CDMS. All inquiries concerning the PMHA's QIP should be directed by email to the PMHA Director, Phillip Taylor.  

Information regarding consumers’ perceptions of care (CPoC) is of great interest to all stakeholders concerned with the assurance of service quality and effectiveness and is a critical component of an effective quality improvement process.

In 2006, with funds jointly provided by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing (under the National Mental Health Strategy), the Australian Private Hospitals Association and the Australian Health Insurance Association, the Australian Medical Association undertook the Consumer Perceptions of Care Pilot Study. Our hypothesis was that the existing nationally consistent approach to the collection of data for outcome measurement could provide a framework within which a standardised measure of CPoC might also be collected and reported. In order to test that hypothesis we undertook a pilot study of the collection and reporting process as a whole.

Eight private hospitals participated in the study, with surveys being completed and submitted by 731 consumers. The findings of the study clearly indicate that the routine collection and reporting of consumer perceptions of care by private hospital–based psychiatric services is both feasible and useful. Our conclusion was that the routine collection, analysis and reporting of consumer perceptions of care will add a critical element to the overall process of evaluation, enabling consumers to give direct voice to their views regarding the quality and effectiveness of the care they receive.

Final report of the Private Hospitals CPoC Study (3115KB)