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National Child Mental Health Quality Measures: Adherence Rates and Extent of Evidence for Clinical Validity

  • Public Policy and Public Health (G Norquist, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Psychiatry Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

To provide an overview of the selection process and annual updates of the child mental health measures within the Child Core Set, describe national and statewide adherence rates, and summarize findings from a systematic literature review examining measure adherence rates and whether adherence is associated with improved clinical outcomes.

Recent Findings

Five national quality measures target child mental health care processes. On average, national adherence varied widely by state, and performance did not substantially improve during the past 5 years. Mean national adherence rates for the two measures related to timeliness of care were below 50%. For each measure, scientific evidence to support the association between adherence and improved clinical outcomes was scarce.

Summary

Investment in academic-agency partnered research to standardize methods for publicly reporting adherence to national child mental health quality measures and validation of these measures should be a national priority for child healthcare research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UCLA-Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Bonnie T. Zima & Juliet B. Edgcomb

  2. American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC, USA

    Samantha A. Shugarman

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Bonnie T. Zima and Juliet B. Edgcomb declare no conflict of interest. Samantha A. Shugarman has received Cooperative Agreement Measure Development Funding from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

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Zima, B.T., Edgcomb, J.B. & Shugarman, S.A. National Child Mental Health Quality Measures: Adherence Rates and Extent of Evidence for Clinical Validity. Curr Psychiatry Rep 21, 6 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-019-0986-3

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