Chemical Dependency Client Perceptions of Care Surveys
In the Fall of 2003, the Division of Mental Hygiene (DMH) launched its quality improvement initiative, Quality IMPACT (Improving Mental Hygiene Programs and Communities Together) with two public forums. Quality IMPACT aims to improve the quality of mental hygiene services in New York City through a data-driven continuous quality improvement process. Many stakeholders including consumers, providers, family members, and advocates attended the public forums. Across all stakeholder groups, consumer perceptions of care were rated the most important outcome measures of system quality.
Client perceptions of care surveys are increasingly being used in the chemical dependency community to assess the quality of services and to develop strategies to improve those services. Research has demonstrated that consumers who are satisfied with services are more likely to adhere to their treatment plans and remain engaged in services.
DMH selected the Mental Health Statistics Improvement Program (MHSIP) Adult Consumer Survey, a nationally recognized instrument that has been found to be statistically reliable and valid. This survey was developed for use in the public mental hygiene system and is now widely used by state and local governments in both chemical dependency and mental health programs. The MHSIP survey assesses four areas of consumer perceptions: overall satisfaction; access to services; quality and appropriateness of services; and consumer reported outcomes. Each survey question has five response options from "Strongly Agree" to "Strongly Disagree." For more information about the MHSIP Adult Consumer Survey, see MHSIP.
In 2005, prior to the first administration of the survey, the Division convened a workgroup of chemical dependency stakeholders to assist in the detailed planning of survey implementation and data collection. The workgroup also suggested minor revisions to the survey that would make it more relevant to clients of chemical dependency programs.
The DMH chemical dependency survey form includes several demographic questions (e.g., age, sex, race/ethnicity), and is available in eight languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Japanese, Korean, Polish and Russian. Survey forms are two-sided (front and back), and are in a scannable format to ensure the speed and accuracy of the data analysis.
DMH expects programs to obtain at least a 50% response rate. The response rate is defined as:
Total # of adult consumers (18 or older) who
complete the survey during designated 2-week period.
Total # of unduplicated adult consumers who
are seen at the program during the 2-week period.
Each year, DMH makes results available to providers after data are analyzed using standardized MHSIP scoring procedures. DMH strongly recommends that participating programs share the survey findings with staff and use the findings to help target areas for improvement.
OUTPATIENT Chemical Dependency Treatment Programs:
FY08 (7/1/07 – 6/30/08)
In FY08, participation in the Chemical Dependency-MHSIP Adult Client Survey was mandatory for chemical dependency outpatient treatment programs in contract with DMH.
In September/October 2007, 22 chemical dependency outpatient treatment programs administered the survey. (Click here to see the results.)
The providers submitted a total of 1,317 completed surveys. The average response rate across programs was 73%.
