Quality IMPACT

In 2004, the Division of Mental Hygiene (DMH) launched a multi-year quality improvement initiative called Quality IMPACT. The initiative introduces and promotes in the City's mental health, chemical dependency, and MRDD programs a data driven, continuous quality improvement (CQI) process. The goal is to incrementally move the New York City mental hygiene system toward more effective services, better consumer outcomes, and the integration of evidence-based and innovative practices.

Quality IMPACT has two components:

• Continuous quality improvement (CQI) projects, through which participating programs target specific service improvements.

• Consumer perceptions of care surveys, through which data on consumer assessments of satisfaction, outcomes, and other service domains are collected and analyzed.

The CQI projects are designed to increase program capacity to engage in rigorous CQI activities and to spearhead the improvement of key service outcomes for consumers. Similarly, the consumer perceptions of care surveys yield data that can be used by individual programs to target service improvement activities. Aggregate survey data also provide a measure of system performance

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Continuous Quality Improvement Projects

Based upon the research literature and feedback from the various mental hygiene stakeholder groups (community providers, consumers of services, advocates, family members and NYC DOHMH staff) DMH decided to focus its improvement efforts on a number of priority areas including screening and follow-up of physical health need in mental hygiene and Drug and Alcohol Treatment programs; partnerships  between consumers, families and treatment providers; assessment and treatment of co-occurring mental health and chemical dependency disorders; and cultural competency. Programs were also given the opportunity to develop their own program specific CQI projects.

DMH’s most recently developed CQI Priority Projects for mental hygiene treatment providers in FY2009 (July 1, 2008 - March 31, 2009) include:

• Improving the Assessment and Integration of Physical Health Needs with Adults, Adolescents and Children in Mental Hygiene Programs:  Participating programs screen for health needs, identify outstanding or unmet physical health needs, integrate health needs into treatment and provide follow-up of these needs. In addition, programs track the number of consumers who are due for or have received their annual physical exam. Programs also choose an additional area of focus including screening for metabolic abnormalities; smoking cessation; weight management; hepatitis C virus (HCV) testing, access to treatment and prevention; and dental care.
• Improving the Assessment and Integration of Physical Health Needs with Adults Participating in Drug and Alcohol Treatment Programs:  Participating programs screen for health needs, identify outstanding or unmet physical health needs, integrate health needs into treatment and provide follow-up of these needs. In addition, programs track the number of consumers who are due for or have received their annual physical exam. Programs track the number of consumers whose HCV status is unknown and receive testing; the number who are identified as positive and need further medical evaluation or follow up and who receive it; and those who have a risk reduction goal in their treatment plan based on assessment of need.
• Improving Treatment Engagement and Outcomes by Strengthening Partnerships with Consumers and Families:  Participating programs work towards offering services more rapidly, expanding on opportunities for meaningful consumer and family engagement in treatment sessions, and creating opportunities for consumers and families to contribute to program development decisions.
• Program Specific Projects (PSP): Participating programs focus on aspects of service delivery of a program’s own choosing.

Our CQI Priority Projects web page also has information on projects conducted previous years.

DMH draws on traditional continuous quality improvement (CQI) methods, as well as many innovative and promising practices to establish a structure to guide groups of programs through the quality improvement process. All participating providers receive training and assistance in establishing CQI in their programs, including: initial staff training on team development and the CQI model; the provision of structured workbooks which offer a step-by-step guide to project planning and implementation; electronic data collection tools and data training; and a timeline for project completion. DMH support also includes ongoing technical assistance, monthly group conference calls for each project group and a day-long Interactive Project Group (IPG) meeting. Expert consultants and trainers assist DMH in staffing the conference calls and IPGs.