ED-visits-first-point-contact-MHA-EN - Health Quality Ontario (HQO)

INDICATOR NAME

Name

Rates of Emergency Department Visits As First Point of Contact for Mental Health And Addictions–Related Care

Alternate Name

Rates of Emergency Department Visits As First Point of Contact for Mental Health And Addictions–Related Care

INDICATOR DESCRIPTION

Description

This indicator measures number of individuals for whom the emergency department was the first point of contact for mental health and addictions care per 100 population aged 0 to 105 years with an incident MHA-related ED visit.

Indicator Status

Active

HQO Reporting tool/product

Ontario Health Teams: Quality

Dimension

Timely

Type

Process

DEFINITION AND SOURCE INFORMATION

Unit of Measurement

Rate per 100 patients

Calculation Methods

Index ED visit includes individuals who left without being seen and those admitted to hospital.
Visits on the same day as the index are not considered prior contact.
Look-back can include scheduled ED visits.
Person-level indicator: one index visit per person.
Diagnostic categories represent the reason for the incident ED visit (i.e., the denominator).
Diagnoses-specific denominators do not add up to the overall denominator

Deliberate self-harm may be present as a secondary diagnosis in any of the other diagnostic types. Deliberate self-harm refers to residual deliberate self-harm, i.e., the presence of a self-harm diagnosis where the main reason for the ED visit is non-MHA-related.

Numerator including inclusion/exclusion

Exclusions:

Age older than 105 years
Non-residents of Ontario
Individuals with an invalid health card number
Missing sex information

Denominator including inclusion/exclusion

Exclusions:

Age older than 105 years
Non-residents of Ontario
Individuals with an invalid health card number
Missing sex information
Scheduled ED visits (from denominator only).

Data Source

CHC (Community Health Centre), Discharge Abstract Database (DAD), National Ambulatory Care Reporting System (NACRS), Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) Claims History Database, Ontario Mental Health Reporting System (OMHRS), PCCF (Statistics Canada’s Postal Code Conversion File), Registered Persons Database (RPDB)

Data provided to HQO by

Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES)

Reported Levels of comparability /stratifications (defined)

Other

OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION

Caveats and Limitations

• CHC data were not available for 2010/11 and after March 31, 2017, and only for reporting at organizational level. • Data did not capture most non-physician mental health and addictions services (i.e., psychologists, counsellors, and social workers). • General limitations of health administrative data include potential coding errors and lack of clinical detail.