An evaluation of a benchmarking initiative in extended treatment mental health services

To evaluate the effectiveness of a benchmarking initiative in facilitating quality improvement and reform in extended care mental health services.

Individual interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with 84 staff in 22 extended care mental health services that had previously participated in a State-wide benchmarking exercise in Queensland, Australia.

Staff reported positive outcomes from participation in the benchmarking exercise. Information derived from benchmarking provided a different perspective on the strengths and weaknesses of individual services and an opportunity to learn from peer services. Staff in 86% of the services identified issues that needed to be addressed and 64% of services had implemented one or more service improvement projects in response to shortcomings identified through the benchmarking exercise.

The collection and reporting of performance data through a process of benchmarking was successful in facilitating service improvement in most of the participating facilities. Engaging services in all stages of the process was considered useful in converting benchmarking data into knowledge that was able to be applied at the local service level.