Benchmarking Older Persons Mental Health Organizations

Abstract

This paper offers a reflection about the outcomes of the older persons benchmarking forums that formed part of the National Mental Health Benchmarking Project (NMHBP). Seven older persons mental health organizations took part in the NMHBP. Representatives from these organizations attended eight benchmarking forums at which they documented their performance against relevant key performance indicators (KPIs). In order to better understand the differential performance of organizations on particular KPIs, participants gathered additional contextual data. This included organization-level data, data on the local catchment area, and data with which to profile the consumers accessing services through the given organization. Participants' average performance on some indicators was stable over time, while the average performance on others demonstrated fluctuations. Perhaps more importantly, the inter-organization range for almost all of the indicators was substantial. The older persons benchmarking forums provided an opportunity for participants to gauge the performance of their own organizations on a range of KPIs, come to understand some of the reasons for their own organization's performance and that of their counterparts, consider which of these reasons may be within their control, and reflect upon opportunities for quality improvement within their own organizations.