Useful Resources

The categories below contain documents and web links that can provide additional information on outcomes measurement and casemix within mental health services.

AMHOCN Resources and Publications

2nd Australasian Mental Health Outcomes Conference
The 2nd Australasian Mental Health Outcomes Conference was held on 24 - 26 November 2008 and provided an opportunity to share the results of the implementation of routine outcome measurement in Australia's specialist mental health services and to showcase the use of outcome measures to support clinical practice and foster quality improvement and service development activities.

Basic Measures Training
AMHOCN's Basic Training Manuals have been developed to provide a basic introduction to the use of the National Outcomes and Casemix Collection (NOCC) and the skills required for completion of the measures.

Carer Outcomes Measures Project
Carer Outcome Measurement in Mental Health Services: Scoping the Field is the report of an AMHOCN project which was a scoping exercise, designed to explore the context within which carer outcome measurement might be introduced and to identify any candidate instruments.

Case Complexity Adjustment and Mental Health Outcomes: Conceptual Issues
Case Complexity Adjustment and Mental Health Outcomes: Conceptual Issues discusses some of the conceptual and practical considerations required to understand and progress the case complexity adjustment agenda.

Clinical Prompts Project
Development of Clinical Prompts to Enhance Decision Support Tools Related to the National Outcomes and Casemix Collection is the report from an AMHOCN project which aimed to establish the feasibility of linking clinical prompts to scores on the NOCC routine outcome measures and the subsequent development of a library of clinical prompts.

HoNOS - Clinical Significance Survey Report
To obtain a better understanding of ‘clinical significance’, AMHOCN surveyed members of the Adult, Older Persons and Child & Adolescent Mental Health Outcomes Expert Groups as well as members of the National Mental Health Benchmarking Forums. The HoNOS Clinical Significance Survey Report summarises the key findings of the survey.

Key Performance Indicators for Australian Public Sector Mental Health Services: Developing Effectiveness KPIs from the NOCC Data
The Key Performance Indicators for Australian Public Sector Mental Health Services: Developing Effectiveness KPIs from the NOCC Data report focuses on the development of a Phase 2 key performance indicator – clinically significant HoNOS (or HoNOSCA or HoNOS65+) change.

Key Performance Indicators for Australian Public Sector Mental Health Services: Modelling Candidate Indicators of Effectiveness
The purpose of Key Performance Indicators for Australian Public Sector Mental Health Services: Modelling Candidate Indicators of Effectiveness is to model candidate ‘effectiveness’ indicators from the Mental Health National Outcomes and Casemix Collection (NOCC) datasets. It is primarily concerned with statistical and technical considerations.

Key Performance Indicators for Australian Public Sector Mental Health Services: Potential Contributions of MHNOCC Data V1.1
Key Performance Indicators for Australian Public Sector Mental Health Services: Potential Contributions of MHNOCC Data proposes additional or modified key performance indicators in the domains of effectiveness, efficiency, accessibility and safety. In doing so, it makes recommendations for Phase 2 indicator development.

NOCC Standard Reports
The National Outcomes and Casemix Collection Standard Reports are the first iteration in the development of the reporting of the NOCC data.

Overview of NOCC Data 2006-2007
Overview of NOCC Data 2006-2007 considers overarching technical issues that require consideration as a precursor to the modelling of candidate ‘effectiveness’ Key Performance Indicators from the Mental Health National Outcomes and Casemix Collection (NOCC) datasets.

Rater and Clinical Utility Training
The Rater and Clinical Utility Training Manual provides guidance on refresher training and the use of the NOCC measures in clinical practice.

Reporting Framework
The Reporting Framework for the National Outcomes and Casemix Collection provides a conceptual basis for the reporting of analyses of the NOCC Data Sets.

Review of NOCC Measures
The Review of Standardised Measues Used in the National Outcomes and Casemix Collection provides descriptive and evaluative information on each the standardised instruments in the NOCC suite of measures.

Reports Portal
The AMHOCN Reports Portal provides access to the nationally aggregated NOCC data, partitioned according to age group, but with options to stratify by service setting, collection occasion, episodes of care, periods of care and individual NOCC measures.

Stakeholder Consultation Report 2004 - Final With Appendices

Stakeholder Consultation Report 2004 - Final Without Appendices

Stakeholder Consultations 2004 - presentation slides
AMHOCN undertook a process of stakeholder consultations across all states and territories during March and April 2004. These consultations aimed to answer key questions that would inform the initial work of AMHOCN. These questions focussed on the current status of National Outcomes and Casemix Collection (NOCC) implementation, use of information systems and unique identifiers, use of the NOCC and NMDS data at jursidictional and service levels, future plans for analysis and reporting of NOCC and future plans for training of the workforce in the use of the NOCC measures. This report details the results of those consultations.

Web Decision Support Tool
The Web Decision Support Tool (wDST) provides access to the aggregated data derived from the National Outcomes and Casemix Collection submissions from each State and Territory in Australia.

Whose Outcome Is It Anyway?
The Whose Outcome Is It Anyway? materials were developed especially for consumers to increase awareness of the use of outcome measures within mental health services.