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A unique approach to performance standards for clinicians in a CMHC
Journal of Mental Health Administration
|March 6, 1985
Summary
A new performance standard for mental health clinicians requires 20 hours of service weekly. This system equitably evaluates diverse services and incentivizes merit increases, boosting therapy utilization.
Area of Science:
- Mental Health Services
- Clinical Performance Evaluation
- Healthcare Administration
Background:
- Clinicians at a large mental health center lacked standardized performance metrics.
- Existing evaluation methods did not adequately account for service diversity or complexity.
- A need existed for a more equitable and objective system to assess clinician performance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and implement performance standards for clinicians.
- To establish a system for evaluating diverse mental health services.
- To create a criterion for merit-based compensation.
Main Methods:
- Established a minimum weekly service requirement of 20 face-to-face hours.
- Assigned credit values (.5-3.0) based on service difficulty and administrative burden.
- Utilized total credits as a measure of accomplishment for merit increases.
Main Results:
- Observed an increase in the utilization of family and group therapy.
- Implemented a more equitable system for evaluating varied clinical services.
- Successfully linked performance credits to merit increase considerations.
Conclusions:
- The developed performance standards improved service delivery metrics.
- The credit-based system provided a fairer evaluation of diverse clinical roles.
- Performance standards positively influenced therapy modality utilization.