 Targets mental health and chemical dependency services
The Experience of Care and Health Outcomes (ECHO) Survey is designed to collect consumers' experiences regarding mental health and chemical dependency services. The survey was developed with the unique needs of the population of behavioral healthcare consumers in mind and can fill a gap in the current HEDIS standards for MBHOs.
The current estimates of the prevalence of behavioral health disorders suggest that almost a third of the adult population experiences some impairment due to a behavioral health problem in any one year. Problems attributed to behavioral health disorders include higher mortality, disability, and lost employment. The financial impact of mental health and substance abuse problems is substantial.
The survey contains items assessing consumer experience with specialty behavioral healthcare. Targeting a quality assessment survey specifically to MBHOs, which arrange for the behavioral healthcare of many health plan members, allows the ECHO to be a more useful tool for quality assessment and improvement of behavioral healthcare services.
ECHO is intended to assess a number of aspects of care including:
- Getting treatment and counseling quickly
- Communication with clinicians
- Information provided by clinicians on medication side effects
- Patient involvement in the treatment
- Information about self-help groups and treatment options
- MBHO administrative services
- Patient rights
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