Leading Change: A Plan for SAMHSA's Roles and Actions 2011 – 2014 (PDF - 778 KB)
Through this Initiative, SAMHSA will formulate an integrated data strategy for informing policy, measuring program impacts, and disseminating results. This data strategy will improve the quality of services provided through SAMHSA, Medicaid, and other public and private funding, and, therefore, improve outcomes for individuals, families, and communities.
In recent years, SAMHSA has promoted the coordinated use of data for the formulation of policy and programming. The new Initiative takes advantage of a revitalized national interest in data activities and new technologies to establish a more robust behavioral health information infrastructure for the Nation. SAMHSA will serve as the lead voice in addressing mental and substance use disorders within national health reform efforts. SAMHSA also will work to ensure that those most vulnerable have access to high-quality prevention, treatment, and recovery services.
Expanding access to data for policy development and decision making is a guiding principal of SAMHSA’s approach to transforming health care. This expansion includes collecting and assessing national, State, Territorial, Tribal, community, and program-level data and information as well as measuring the impact and effectiveness of service investments. It will require systems-level research to examine new strategies to improve the quality and outcomes of behavioral health care across primary care, specialty care, and social service sectors. Coordination and cooperation across the SAMHSA’s Centers and Offices will be essential. Improved data systems are central to SAMHSA’s goal of improving the quality of behavioral health services in the United States. Better use and availability of data will enable providers to more fully understand individual needs and provide person-centered care that works for consumers. Using a range of data effectively will drive accountability, leading to higher quality, safer, more accessible, and more reliable care. Accountability can also improve the experience of individuals receiving care and support active engagement of consumers and families.
The Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality (CBHSQ), located in Rockville, MD, is a Center within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The Center has expanded from the former Office of Applied Studies (OAS).CBHSQ is a primary source of national data on the prevalence, treatment, and consequences of substance abuse and mental illness in the United States. SAMHSA has three major data collection systems to provide this information on a regular basis: the National Survey on Drug Use & Health (NSDUH), the Drug and Alcohol Services Information System (DASIS), and the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN). DAWN regularly collects data on drug-related emergency room visits.
DASIS includes the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) that contains data on admissions to and discharges from substance abuse and mental health treatment services; and the National Survey on Substance Abuse Services (N-SSATS). N-SSATS is the National source of information on the location, organization, and capacity of providers which offer services to prevent and treat substance abuse and the cost, quality, and effectiveness of the services of these providers.
