Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 10, 2026
Methodology for Establishing a Community-Wide Life Laboratory for Capturing Unobtrusive and Continuous Remote Activity and Health Data
Published on: July 27, 2018
The Current State of Behavioral Health Quality Measures: Where Are the Gaps?
Milesh M Patel1, Jonathan D Brown1, Sarah Croake1
1Mr. Patel, Ms. Lewis, Dr. Liu, and Dr. Scholle are with the National Committee for Quality Assurance, Washington, D.C. Dr. Brown and Ms. Croake are with Mathematica Policy Research, Washington, D.C. Dr. Patton is with the Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Rockville, Maryland. Ms. Potter is with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. Send correspondence to Dr. Scholle (e-mail: scholle@ncqa.org ).
Objective:
This review examined the extent to which existing behavioral health quality measures address the priority areas of the National Behavioral Health Quality Framework (NBHQF) as well as the extent to which the measures have received National Quality Forum endorsement and are used in major reporting programs.
Methods:
This review identified behavioral health quality measures in widely used measure inventories, including the National Quality Measures Clearinghouse, National Quality Forum, and the Center for Quality Assessment in Mental Health. Additional measures were identified through outreach to federal agencies. Measures were categorized by type, condition, target population, data source, reporting unit, endorsement status, and use in reporting programs.
Results:
The review identified 510 measures. Nearly one-third of these measures address broad mental health or substance use conditions rather than a specific condition or diagnosis. Seventy-two percent are process measures. The most common data source for measures is administrative claims, and very few measures rely on electronic health records or surveys. Fifty-three (10%) measures have received National Quality Forum (NQF) endorsement, and 28 (5%) unique measures are used in major quality reporting programs. Several subdomains of the NBHQF, such as treatment intensification, financial barriers to care, and continuity of care, lack measures that are NQF endorsed.
Conclusions:
Despite the wide array of behavioral health quality measures, relatively few have received endorsement or are used in reporting programs. Future efforts should seek to fill gaps in measurement and to identify the most salient and strongest measures in each priority area.
Related Concept Videos
01:30Health Information Technology and Healthcare Information System
Health Information Technology, commonly called HIT, integrates advanced information systems and technology in healthcare settings. Its primary functions include:
01:29Issues And Trends In Healthcare Delivery System
Cost Containment
Payment for healthcare services has historically promoted adoption of costly and often unnecessary or inefficient...
01:22Healthcare Associated Infections II: Preventive Measures
The best practices for preventing healthcare-associated infections include hand hygiene, patient risk...
01:18Introduction To Health Care Delivery System
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) advocates for a patient-centered, effective, safe, timely, equitable, and effective healthcare system. The National Priorities...
01:22Standards of Care I
01:11Purpose of Health Records I
Here's a breakdown of how health records serve these purposes: