• CAHPS® surveys and tools to advance patient-centered care [https://www.cahps.ahrq.gov/default.asp]. [internet]. Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ); [updated 2008 Feb 21]; [accessed 2004 Apr 15]. [3 p].



• ECHO® Survey and Reporting Kit 2004. Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ); 2004. Various p.

Does not apply to this measure

This single-item measure indicates the percentage of adult patients who reported whether ("Yes" or "No") they were told about medication side effects.

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.

Behavioral health care; patients' experiences; getting needed information (medication side effects)

Health plan members age 18 years and older, enrolled in a managed care organization (MCO) or managed behavioral health organization (MBHO) for the previous 12 months with no more than one break in enrollment of up to 45 days during the enrollment period, who received behavioral health care services and who answered the "Being Told About Medication Aide Effects" question on the Experience of Care and Health Outcomes (ECHO) Survey

The number of health plan members from the denominator who indicated "Yes" or "No" regarding whether they were told of medication side effects

• A formal consensus procedure involving experts in relevant clinical, methodological, and organizational sciences

Use of this measure to improve performance
Variation in quality for the performance measured

Current routine use

Accreditation
Internal quality improvement

Behavioral Health Care
Managed Care Plans
Substance Use Treatment Programs/Centers

Measure is not provider specific

Single Health Care Delivery Organizations

Age greater than or equal to 18 years

Either male or female

Unspecified

Unspecified

Unspecified

Unspecified

Unspecified

Unspecified

Getting Better
Living with Illness

Patient-centeredness

Users of care only

Health plan members age 18 years and older (as of January 1 of the current year), who have been enrolled in a managed care organization (MCO) or a managed behavioral health organization (MBHO) for the previous 12 months with no more than one break in enrollment of up to 45 days during the enrollment period

Patients associated with provider

Inclusions
Health plan members age 18 years and older, enrolled in a managed care organization (MCO) or managed behavioral health organization (MBHO) for the previous 12 months with no more than one break in enrollment of up to 45 days during the enrollment period, who

• received ambulatory or outpatient and day/night behavioral health care services during the evaluation period including outpatient visits or treatment sessions, medications, partial treatment, or day or night treatment, and
• answered the "Being Told About Medication Side Effects" question on the Experience of Care and Health Outcomes (ECHO) Survey.

Include refusals, non-response, and bad addresses/phone numbers.

Refer to the original measure documentation for further details including administrative codes developed to identify patients who have received services.

Exclusions

• Deceased
• Ineligible (not enrolled in the plan)

All cases in the denominator are equally eligible to appear in the numerator

Patient Characteristic

Time window precedes index event

Inclusions
The number of health plan members from the denominator who indicated "Yes" or "No" regarding whether they were told of medication side effects

Exclusions
Unspecified

The measure results are somewhat or substantially under the control of the health care professionals, organizations and/or policymakers to whom the measure applies.

Fixed time period

Administrative data and patient survey

Not Individual Case

Unspecified

Rate

Better quality is associated with a higher score

Case-mix adjustment

CAHPS recommends adjusting the data for respondent age, education, and general health status.

If the sample size is sufficient, responses may be analyzed for specific sub-populations, such as respondents with chronic conditions.

External comparison at a point in time
Internal time comparison

The ECHO Survey 3.0 is the product of nearly six years of research and testing, as well as extensive consultations with behavioral health care experts and consumers.

The ECHO Development Team produced a draft instrument based on the Consumer Assessment of Behavioral Health Services (CABHS) instrument and the Mental Health Statistics Improvement Program (MHSIP) survey. The draft was reviewed by multiple stakeholder groups; it was also evaluated by survey experts, administrators, mental health providers, and consumers.

The team conducted literacy testing of the draft instrument as well as cognitive testing with individuals who received behavioral health care services. Recommended revisions to the survey based on this testing were reviewed with the ECHO Development Team to produce the draft of the survey that was field tested. The current version of the survey tested at a reading level between 7th and 8th grade.

The team then undertook a field test study to further evaluate the instrument and to refine it for use as a standardized measure of behavioral health care.

• Daniels AS, Shaul JA, Greenberg P, Cleary PD. The Experience of Care and Health Outcomes Survey (ECHO): a consumer survey to collect ratings of treatment, outcomes and plans. In: Maruish ME, editor(s). The use of psychological testing for treatment planning and outcome assessment. 3rd ed. Mahwah (NJ): Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; 2004.



• ECHO Development Team. Shaul JA, Eisen SV, Clarridge BR, Stringfellow VL, Fowler FJ Jr, Cleary PD. Experience of care and health outcomes (ECHO) survey. Field test report: survey evaluation. Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ); 2001 May 8. 100 p. [13 references]

Being told about medication side effects.

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
CAHPS Consortium
Harvard Medical School

The Evaluation Center at the Human Services Research Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts, (Cooperative Agreement U97 SM52004 with The Center for Mental Health Services, NIMH), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) (Cooperative Agreement HS-0925), and the MacArthur Foundation

Harvard Medical School

None

National Quality Forum

Measure was adapted from the Consumer Assessment of Behavioral Health Services (CABHS) and the Mental Health Statistics Improvement Program (MHSIP).

Unspecified

2002 Feb

2004 Aug

This is the current release of the measure.

• CAHPS® surveys and tools to advance patient-centered care [https://www.cahps.ahrq.gov/default.asp]. [internet]. Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ); [updated 2008 Feb 21]; [accessed 2004 Apr 15]. [3 p].



• ECHO® Survey and Reporting Kit 2004. Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ); 2004. Various p.

This NQMC summary was completed by ECRI on December 13, 2004. The information was verified by the measure developer on February 11, 2005.

No copyright restrictions apply.