Section 5614.5.

(a) The department, in consultation with the Quality Improvement Committee which shall include representatives of the California Mental Health Planning Council, local mental health departments, consumers and families of consumers, and other stakeholders, shall establish and measure indicators of access and quality to provide the information needed to continuously improve the care provided in California's public mental health system.

(b) The department in consultation with the Quality Improvement Committee shall include specific indicators in all of the following areas:

(1) Structure.

(2) Process, including access to care, appropriateness of care, and the cost effectiveness of care.

(3) Outcomes.

(c) Protocols for both compliance with law and regulations and for quality indicators shall include standards and formal decision rules for establishing when technical assistance, and enforcement in the case of compliance, will occur. These standards and decision rules shall be established through the consensual stakeholder process established by the department.

(d) The department shall report to the legislative budget committees on the status of the efforts in Section 5614 and this section by March 1, 2001. The report shall include presentation of the protocols and indicators developed pursuant to this section or barriers encountered in their development.

(Added by Stats. 2000, Ch. 93, Sec. 52. Effective July 7, 2000.)