Evaluation of the Quality of Mental Health Services

Cultural competence and quality of care: Issues for mental health service delivery in managed care.

“…Another major concern in the assessment of process is confidentiality. Typically, process measures involve some form of peer review strategies, including record audits, direct observation of staff activities, observation of the patient's condition, or exams to test staff knowledge (Zusman & Ross, 1969). Rodriguez (1988) notes that no other area raises such basic ethical and legal problems as the threatened loss of privacy historically protected in the therapist-client relationship.…”

Assessment of Outcomes in Community Support Systems: Results, Problems, and Limitations

“…The rationale for conducting outcome research in synthesized community support systems parallels these two kinds of program objectives. Individual controlled studies covered in the two overview articles represent attempts at traditional program evaluation, as described in the literature of that field (Zusman and Ross 1969;Markson 1975;Arthur D. Little 1976), with the express purpose of testing specific patient care techniques. Beyond this evaluative purpose, there is a second manifest reason for studying synthesized community support systems.…”

The interviewing computer: A technology for gathering comprehensive treatment information

“…Indeed, there is a growing pessimism within the mental health field that the task may be impossible. Zusman and Ross (1969) claim that outcome studies will never become a routine part of quality evaluation of individual treatment facilities. They view outcome investigation as representing expensive techniques of special research projects, and they predict that many years will pass before outcome studies are accepted in treatment programs, even on a limited basis.…”

“…They view outcome investigation as representing expensive techniques of special research projects, and they predict that many years will pass before outcome studies are accepted in treatment programs, even on a limited basis. Zusman and Ross (1969) did not envision the solutions afforded by computer interview technology when commenting on the future of outcome studies, but, since then, a number of investigators have proposed the on-line computer as a means to gather treatment outcome data (Angle & Ellinwood, 1978;Johnson, Giannetti, & Williams, 1976;Klein, Greist, & VanCura, 1975;Stillman, Roth, Colby, & Rosenbaum, 1969). The on-line computer has the potential of making outcome evaluation a routine activity of a treatment program.…”