Australian Mental Health Outcomes and Classification Network
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NOCC - What is it?

  1. NOCC Collection
  2. NOCC - What is it?

National Outcomes and Casemix Collection

Within the mental health field, the regular assessment of consumer outcomes has been a priority initiative for some years. The Mental Health National Outcomes and Casemix Collection (NOCC), comprising a range of clinician and consumer rated measures, was first specified in August 2002 and implemented progressively by states and territories in the years that followed. This process followed a commitment by states and territories, under the Second National Mental Health Plan, to introduce the routine collection of outcome and casemix data in public mental health services.

The use of outcome measures attempts to measure whether a change has occurred for a consumer as a result of mental health care. By using a range of outcome measures, consumers and clinicians can work together to map the journey of recovery over time.

The NOCC measures contribute to the development of clinical practice, aiming to improve the quality of care for consumers of Australia’s public sector mental health services. Outcome measures can assist consumers in considering options for their care and treatment and support the development of a therapeutic relationship between the clinician and the consumer. The measures can also be used by clinicians to monitor the progress of the consumer, evaluate the effectiveness of treatments and thereby provide information that will assist decisions about clinical practices. The outcome measures can also be used by team leaders and service managers to better understand the needs of consumers, to plan for the allocation of resources and to identify where service improvements are required.

The measures that comprise the NOCC are listed below. More detailed information about each measure can be found in Mental Health National Outcomes and Casemix Collection: Overview of Clinician-Rated and Consumer Self-Report Measures V.2.1. The measures are collected by services according to a set of “protocols” - at specified times and points in service delivery. These protocols are described in Mental Health National Outcomes and Casemix Collection: Technical specification of State and Territory reporting requirements. Version: 2.03.

  • Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS);

  • Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for Children and Adolescents (HoNOSCA);

  • Health of the Nation Outcome Scales 65+ (HoNOS65+);

  • Life Skills Profile 16 (LSP-16);

  • Resource Utilisation Groups – Activities of Daily Living Scale (RUG-ADL);

  • Children’s Global Assessment Scale (CGAS);

  • Mental Health Inventory 38 (MHI 38);

  • Behavior and Symptom Identification Scale 32 (BASIS 32);

  • Kessler 10+ (K-10+);

  • Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ);

  • Factors Influencing Health Status (FIHS); and

  • Phase of Care (POC).