MDS data entry system

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Welcome to the Better Outcomes in Mental Health Care (ATAPS) website

Information on this site will help support your role in managing your division's participation in this program. We have a dedicated Help Desk to assist you with problems or enquiries relating to entering your division's data in the Minimum Data Set database. Also, if you are involved in program evaluation, the CHPPE team at Melbourne University are available to further assist you. Further details are available below.

MDS Upgrades

As you are aware the Better Outcomes in Mental Health Care Minimum Dataset (BOiMHC MDS) is being upgraded to accommodate the introduction of the new trials introduced this year (i.e. telephone based CBT, suicide prevention and postnatal depression) and to enhance functionality overall. However, as it will be a lengthy process to replace the existing Minimum Dataset system with a more flexible version, an interim update (version 3.2) to the existing system was made on the 13th of November 2008 to allow Divisions to collect many of the new data items in the interim.

More information can be found at BOiMHCChanges3x2.

If any of the changes documented here are relevant to you but you cannot see the expected altered functionality in the MDS, or if you have any other queries relating to these changes, please do not hesitate to contact us via e-mail to support@boimhc.org.

Telephone Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (T-CBT)

Divisions participating in the T-CBT program seeking more more information should see the TeleCBT specific page.

What evaluation support is available to Divisions running Access to Allied Psychological Services projects under the Better Outcomes in Mental Health Care program?

The Better Outcomes in Mental Health Care program has a strong commitment to evaluation. As a consequence, The University of Melbourne’s Centre for Health Policy, Programs and Economics (CHPPE; formerly the Program Evaluation Unit - PEU) has been commissioned to provide evaluation support to Divisions that are conducting Access to Allied Psychological Services (ATAPS) projects.

Our support role recognises that Divisions have varying levels of evaluation expertise, may be using internal or external evaluators, and are employing different evaluation designs. In the main, this support takes the form of individual and group consultations with interested Divisions, as well as written documentation about key evaluation issues.

Our role also includes the development and dissemination of a minimum dataset. The minimum dataset is designed to capture de-identified consumer-level information, which is invaluable for describing who is accessing allied health care as a result of these projects, as well as for providing a broad overview of the care these people are receiving.

Periodically, we draw together information from the local evaluations and the minimum dataset to provide ongoing information about how the ATAPS projects are going, and whether specific models of service delivery seem to be particularly effective in given circumstances.

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The latest report: Ongoing gains in improving access to mental health care in Australia

The Fourteenth Interim Evaluation Report indicates that the Access to Allied Psychological Services projects have established themselves over time as a cornerstone of mental health service provision in Australia. They have gained considerable momentum, and have succeeded in attracting substantial numbers of GPs (10,296) and allied health professionals (3,527). These providers have delivered 602,405 sessions to significant numbers of consumers (116,782). The profile of consumers being referred to the projects is now very consistent, with the majority being women with high prevalence disorders who may have not accessed mental health care in the past. The nature of sessions being delivered through the projects has also reached a point of consistency, with the majority being individual-level, CBT-based sessions of around one hour in length. The only notable variation relates to the charging of a copayment, which was relatively uncommon early on, became more common later, and has become less common again. Copayments are also more common in urban areas. There is good evidence that the projects are achieving positive results for consumers, in terms of alleviating symptoms, improving levels of functioning, and impacting on general wellbeing. Download 14th Evaluation Report

Telephone CBT Evaluation Report (October 2009)

Data suggests that the uptake of the T-CBT program has been very slow. It indicates that to date, 43 consumers have been referred by 21 GPs to 11 allied health professionals, of whom 30 consumers have received 123 sessions of care. However, it is noteworthy that the Divisions involved in the T-CBT pilot have also reported a further 123 sessions of care delivered by telephone but have indicated the associated referrals are for the ‘general’ Access to Allied Psychological Services projects. In addition, a further 354 sessions have been delivered by telephone across other Access to Allied Psychologiial Services projects that are not part of the T-CBT pilot. It appears that the value of the telephone modality of service delivery is recognised, despite the preference for face-to-face service, if this option exists. There may be merit in considering the permanent intergration of the option for delivery of psychological sessions by telephone across the Access to Allied Psychological Services projects rather than offering T-CBT as a segrated program.

* Download Telephone CBT Pilot Evaluation Report

Specialist Suicide Prevention Services Report (October 2009)

The current report indicates that Specialist Services for Consumers at Risk of Suicide were received positively by most Divisions. Many Divisions reported some challenges in developing policy and procedures for the services, and then in engaging GPs, allied health professionals and new external referrers, which resulted in a delay in the commencement of service delivery. The services have begun to steadily attract referrals from GPs and Emergency Departments. Sessions delivered by allied health professionals to consumers are also steadily rising. The profile of consumers is somewhat different from the general ATAPS projects suggesting that these specialist services are reaching a different group of consumers and are complementing the general ATAPS projects. The nature of services being delivered varies from that of general ATAPS and between rural and urban areas. Consumers are receiving a free of cost service, with no co-payments reported in any sessions. These findings are preliminary pending the final report which is to be submitted in early 2010.

* Download Specialist Suicide Services Evaluation Report

Link to the full list of ATAPS Evaluation reports

What is the Centre for Health Policy, Programs and Economics?

The CHPPE is part of the School of Population Health at The University of Melbourne and continues to evaluate the Access to Allied Psycholgical Services (ATAPS) Component of the Better Outcomes in Mental Health Care Initiative.

We are a multidisciplinary centre whose aim is to contribute to the health of the community through research, evaluation and a varied program of teaching and training that:

• advances knowledge about health programs;
• improves the community’s ability to evaluate health programs;
• fosters methodological development and exemplary practice; and
• addresses relevant issues productively and flexibly.

We, at the CHPPE bring considerable expertise to the tasks at hand, having conducted local, state and national evaluations of other mental health and general practice initiatives, usually adopting a model of capacity-building.

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Minimum dataset database

Strategic Data Pty Ltd have developed a web based data entry system for the minimum dataset (MDS). This system includes online help for each of the functions which you can access once logged in.

Click HERE to login to the the MDS data entry system.

If you are a new user of the MDS, please download our one page MDS Welcome Summary, providing all the information and links you need to get started using the MDS.

There is some functionality for Data Upload if your Division has an alternative means of collecting and storing the MDS data, for example Excel or Access. More information on that procedure is included in the MDS ONLINE HELP.

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Who to contact

A dedicated Help Desk is available to support the ATAPS projects in relation to the Minimum Data Set system. All enquiries should be directed to: support@boimhc.org

If you are involved in the implementation or evaluation of one of the ATAPS projects, and are seeking evaluation support or advice, feel free to contact Justine Fletcher, Fay Kohn or Bridget Bassilios. They are Research Fellows at the CHPPE and have expertise in evaluation and experience in working with Divisions. Please send all queries to the following email address: support@boimhc.org.

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The purpose of this website

This website provides useful information, tools and documentation to provide support to Divisions involved in the ATAPS projects. Click on the links below to view the following documents:

• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) For the Minimum Data Set Database System
• ATAPS Project Reports:Link to the collection of ATAPS Evaluation Reports and other useful reports and articles
• ATAPS Project Presentations:Link to the collection of ATAPS Evaluation Presentations
• Archive Documents:Link to Archive Documents section containing early ATAPS documentation. Provides initial project framework.

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