Decision Support 2000+ (DS2000+) is a new mental health information system supporting the public health model. It facilitates collection, analysis, and reporting of mental health data, from population characteristics through the effects of services. It results from several projects supported by the Survey and Analysis Branch of the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) in collaboration with Abt Associates, the Mental Health Statistics Improvement Program (MHSIP), the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) Research Institute (NRI), and a broad range of stakeholder groups, including consumers, family members, payers, managed care entities, government representatives, advocacy organizations, providers, researchers, and experts in mental health records and information system technology.

Through DS2000+, population, enrollment, encounter, financial, human resource and organizational data are linked with standards of practice (clinical and system guidelines) and with instruments for evaluating care (consumer outcome measures, report cards, and system performance indicators). Linking data facilitates clinical and administrative decision-making; linking mental health data with data from other human services (health care, social services, corrections, educational and vocational services) facilitates delivery of integrated care.

DS2000+ builds on decades of work within the mental health field including FN10 (Data Standards for Mental Health Decision Support Systems) and the Enhancement to Meet the Needs of Children; the data sets produced by the FN11 Workgroup; the MHSIP Consumer-Oriented Mental Health Report Card; performance indicator work by CMHS, MHSIP, and NRI; the Outcomes Roundtable and the Children’s Outcomes Roundtable; and the Human Resource Workgroup.

DS2000+ is designed to be used by and meet the needs of a broad group of users; ensure privacy, confidentiality, and cultural relevance of data; facilitate clinical and organizational decision-making and monitor the outcomes of decisions. For both the public and private sectors, the system will enhance collection and reporting of mental health data and facilitate systematic measurement and evaluation, thereby contributing substantially to improving the quality of mental health services.

Please note that DS2000+ does not yet exist in operational form. It is currently a proposed framework for an information infrastructure, with a set of standard definitions, uniform operations, and quality measurement tools that will support the public health model, facilitate decision-making, provide feedback, enhance communication, and thereby improve the quality of mental health care. DS2000+ is under development. We have completed a requirements analysis for the system, and now are reaching out to the mental health community to help us make it ready for implementation.

Although DS2000+ may seem theoretical, perhaps "pie in the sky", much of it is already in operation. Many of the data elements are routinely collected by states, managed behavioral healthcare organizations, the Federal Government, and others. The technology for linking components, transforming data, and producing reports exists. We are not creating something new, but rather, recommending ways to bring uniformity to what is now not standardized, and to link what is now disconnected.

The development team has completed a requirements analysis for DS2000+ and posted them here, on the MHSIP website. Each section reports on the current status of a component of DS2000+, recommends data elements for that component, and indicates where the team believes more work is needed.

We now ask you to help us make DS2000+ fully ready for implementation by reviewing this document and giving us your feedback on the prototype and its components. Specifically, we ask you to comment on the minimum data sets, the methods to ensure privacy and confidentiality, and the various technological options. Please give us your suggestions for those areas that need more work, and tell us about other issues we may have missed. In addition, we would appreciate your ideas for "advertising" DS2000+, including ways to encourage people to read the requirements analysis on the MHSIP website and give us their feedback.

	Feedback Questionnaire. You may respond to the specific questions using the pull-down menus and free-text boxes. There are direct links to each of the proposed data sets for comment on specific data elements.
	Email. Direct email links in hypertext can connect you with the development team at Abt Associates (Sarah Minden) and CMHS (Marilyn Henderson).
	Telephone. To talk directly with Sarah Minden or Marilyn Henderson, or other members of the development team, please send your telephone number by the email link and they will contact you directly.