Services utilization data, collection

Techniques are needed to record services used by patients, families and others affected by a mental health problem or its treatment. Techniques are also needed to calculate the associated unit costs. These are separate activities. Many instruments have been developed to collect service utilization data. The one that my own research teams employ and which has been widely used elsewhere is the Client Service Receipt Inventory (CSRl ... 

Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUPnet). Rockville, MD Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. URL http // www.hcup.ahrq.gov. Family of healthcare databases and software tools based on statewide data collected by individual hospitals and service providers across the United States. Databases include the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), the Kids Inpatient Database (KID), the State Inpatient Databases (SID), the State Ambulatory Surgery Databases (SASD), and the State Emergency Department Databases (SEDD). Searchable by diagnosis, procedure, and ICD codes. Available online. 

System Reliability Service Varied Status reports contain failure, repair, and maintenance data on 450 categories data sets are broader A wide variety of equipment failure and performance records from utilities and manufacturers, plus collected inspection data 75. 

The Canadian Electricity Association (CEA) has collected Canadian service continuity statistics for many years and publishes these data on an overall basis. Canadian electric utility reliability performance statistics for 1997 are shown in Table 1. 

Alternatively cost data can be collected from other published hterature. This is also useful for identifying key costs. The problem with these is that they can vary considerably between different settings. Practice variation in for example facilities or services used, nursing time etc. can account for a number of differences from place to place. Variability also arises in estimating future costs. To overcome such variabihty sensitivity analysis is used. Sensitivity analysis is the process of repeatedly using different values for probabihty and utility values in order to assess the degree of uncertainty associated with a result. Inferences are also made from other studies. 

Provide information, direction and assistance to customer service representatives and other Utility staff to facilitate delivery of water conservation information to customers and the pubhc. Participate in collection and analysis of water consumption data for trends and forecasting of water needs for the Utility. 

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