Quality Measures Database

Clients/patients are able to obtain care and services at the right place and the right time, based on their respective needs. Accessibility would include such things as waiting times, physician availability, geographical proximity, extended service hours, etc.
Additional Domain(s) : Acceptability

This single-item measure indicates the percentage of adult patients who reported how often ("Always," "Usually," "Sometimes," or "Never") they were seen within 15 minutes of their appointment.
Consumer ratings and reports of their behavioral health care and the health plan or managed behavioral health care organization (MBHO) that provide that care are important measures of the quality of behavioral health treatment. National efforts to develop quality indicators for behavioral health care by treatment providers, researchers and policymakers have all included consumer ratings. Moreover, many behavioral health care treatment providers use consumer ratings as a component of their quality improvement processes.
The Experience of Care and Health Outcomes (ECHO) Survey is designed to collect information on patients' experiences with behavioral health care. It produces data that can be useful for patients, clinicians, managed behavioral healthcare organizations (MBHO), health care plans, purchasers, States, and Federal agencies. This ECHO Survey is part of the CAHPS family of surveys, which are developed and supported by a public-private consortium of researchers sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
The ECHO Survey can be used for the following purposes:
To satisfy external standards.
To improve the quality of mental health and substance abuse services.
To monitor the quality of behavioral health organizations.
To hold providers accountable through public reporting.  

Chinman M, Young AS, Rowe M, Forquer S, Knight E, Miller A.
An instrument to assess competencies of providers treating severe mental
illness.
Ment Health Serv Res. 2003 Jun;5(2):97-108.
PMID: 12801073

III: Preliminary research evidence only or evidence based on consensus opinion only.

• * This appears to be more relevant for client and patients who are either children or young people. Adults are able to wait more than 15 minutes.
• This is not as important as actually having an appointment.
• * This is less important than feeling that the professional takes the necessary time with each patient
• This has much to do with good office management, i.e. it is quite realistic to set approriate appointment times in advance.
• I disagree strongly with others comments and feel they are awful excuses for providers inconveniencing patients. The PHC provider should definitely be on time AND book the necessary time.

Ratings-based Rank Relevance 160 Actionability 139 Overall Importance 159		Stakeholder Rank Academics 150 Clinicians 154 Consumers 157 Decision Makers 150 �		Special Group Rank First Nations 156 Rural Areas 158 Federal Stakeholders 141
Regional Rank BC AB SK MB ON QC NB NS PE NL YT NT NU 150 132 156 158 152 158 136 119 144 150 138 118 156				Overall Rank        154