Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration

CMHS Consumer Affairs E-News
June 3, 2005, Vol. 05-84

New Performance Measure and Management Tool Available Online

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) today announced the online availability of SAMHSA's National Outcome Measures (NOMS) - a data resource to help federal and state substance abuse and mental health managers facilitate evidence-based decision making and ultimately improve services in the communities they serve.

"This new web-based tool is the very beginning of a data reporting system that ultimately will provide a comprehensive state-by-state picture of mental health and substance abuse service system results," said SAMHSA Administrator Charles Curie. "This is a powerful new tool that we can use to improve the management and performance of our programs and make the most of the limited dollars available to help people attain and sustain recovery."

Using maps and charts, the database will describe states' substance abuse and mental health prevalence, treatment and funding data. It will also provide substance abuse prevention data. As new data are collected, the website will also present cross-year data to help users examine program changes over time.

In collaboration with states, SAMHSA has identified National Outcome Measures for ten domains. The first area is abstinence from drug use and alcohol abuse. Also in this area is the goal of decreasing symptoms of mental illness and improved functioning. Four domains focus on resilience and sustaining recovery. These include getting and keeping a job or enrolling and staying in school; decreased involvement with the criminal justice system; securing a safe, decent, and stable place to live; and social connectedness to and support from others in the community such as family, friends, co-workers, and classmates.

Two domains look directly at 1) increased access to services for both mental health and substance abuse and 2) retention in services for substance abuse or decreased inpatient hospitalizations for mental health treatment. The final three domains examine the quality of services provided. These include client perception of care, cost-effectiveness, and use of evidenced-based practices in treatment.

Data for reporting on the NOMs identified for the ten domains will come primarily from the states. States will be supported in their efforts by SAMHSA with infrastructure and technical assistance through a new State Outcomes Measurement and Management System (SOMMS), an umbrella activity in SAMHSA to implement NOMs. Through this new system, SAMHSA in partnership with the states will:

. Standardize operational definitions and outcome measures, and link
records to support pre-/post-service comparisons;
. Develop benchmarking strategies to determine acceptable levels of
outcomes;
. Produce routine management reports to direct SAMHSA's technical
assistance and science-to-services program to implement interventions
designed to result in improved outcomes;
. Achieve full state reporting on all NOMs by the end of fiscal year (FY)
2007. In the interim, each year more states will report NOMs using
standard definitions until all states are on board.

SAMHSA is using its State Data Infrastructure Grants program to develop and test the NOMS.

To access NOMS go to http://www.nationaloutcomemeasures.samhsa.gov/ .

SAMHSA is a public health agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The agency is responsible for improving the accountability, capacity and effectiveness of the nation's substance abuse prevention, addictions treatment and mental health service delivery systems.
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The Center for Mental Health Services is a component of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, United States Department of Health and Human Services.