Summary
background Up till 2008 the Dutch mental health services came under the Dutch General Law on Special Medical Costs (awbz). Health insurers regarded the mental health services as ‘black box’. In 2008 the mental health services were transferred to the basic health insurance system and the health insurers became responsible for the healthcare purchasing services. In the same year the mental health services began to use rom to measure the effects of treatment and thereby improve the quality of treatment.
aim To clarify the use that the insurers make of rom.
method The developments in this field are described.
results The feedback supplied by rom enables therapists to improve treatment. An additional benefit is that the mental health services are then in a position to improve quality at aggregate level and compare their own results with those of others. Nationally, rom can provide health insurers with information about treatment quality in combination with the Consumer Quality Index (cqi), and national ‘benchmarks’ can be implemented. To facilitate the interpretation of these rom data the health insurers set up the independent foundation, Stichting Benchmark ggz (mental health care), in which ggz Nederland has participated since 2010.
conclusion ROM provides therapists with a means for improving treatment and provides insurers with a means by which they can express their views about the quality of the mental health services at aggregate level.