Outpatient performance measurement

At NRI, we have assisted state agencies, professional organizations and providers develop, test and implement meaningful measures for outpatient settings.

Outpatient performance measurement focuses on persons receiving services from community programs, such as mental health centers, outpatient clinics, and private independent providers. Several metrics have been promoted over the past several years aiming to address the critical concepts of recovery, person-centered care, and integrated care. In addition, traditional metrics are used to provide longitudinal data on the movement of the outpatient system in terms of access, process, and outcome of care.

Individual-level outpatient measures developed and tested include, but are not limited to:

• Housing stability,
• Criminal justice involvement,
• Improved functioning, and
• Educational attainment.

Organizational-level outpatient measures developed and tested include, but are not limited to:

• Provision of best practices and services,
• Mortality rates, and
• Readmission rates.

Many outpatient programs have an enrolled-in-service caseload that may receive sporadic services depending on need—much like managed healthcare. Thus, the most challenging aspect of outpatient performance measurement remains the issue of defining the population of interest. 

Please contact [email protected] for more information.