The National Model for the Collection and Analysis of a Minimum Data Set with Outcome Measures for Private Psychiatric Services (hereafter National Model), is being implemented by participating private psychiatric hospitals for the purpose of obtaining information to support improvements in the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of the services they provide. Since 2001, the Australian Government, private health insurers (Health Insurers), and over forty private hospitals with psychiatric beds (Hospitals) have been contributing the funding necessary to implement the National Model, and to support the PMHA's Centralised Data Management Service (CDMS).

Under the National Model, participating Hospitals collect two measures of patient's clinical status at key occasions during the provision of care: Admission and Discharge from episodes of Overnight inpatient care; Admission and Discharge from episodes of Ambulatory care (eg, day programmes); and where episodes of care are extended over longer periods, at Review every three months. The two measures of clinical status are: a twelve item clinician-completed rating scale, developed by the Royal College of Psychiatrists (UK) and known as the HoNOS, and; a fourteen item patient-completed questionnaire, derived from the Medical Outcomes Study Questionnaire used in the Rand Health Insurance Experiment (USA), and for convenience known as the MHQ-14. This clinical data is recorded and then linked with data collected under the Hospital Casemix Protocol (HCP) using the Hospitals Standardised Measures database (HSMdb) software provided to participating Hospitals by the CDMS. The two sets of linked data are then submitted, in a de-identified format, to the CDMS by Hospitals. The data submitted by all participating Hospitals forms the basis for the Standard Quarterly Reports that are prepared and distributed to Hospitals and Health Insurers by the CDMS.

In accordance with the specifications of the National Model, Reports are prepared for the purpose of providing information to support improvements in the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of private hospital-based psychiatric services. The PMHA makes every effort to ensure that the information contained in Reports is free from errors and omissions, and that all the data and information drawn upon to compile those Reports is provided in good faith. The PMHA, however, does not warrant the accuracy of Reports and does not warrant their suitability for use for any management or commercial purpose.