CMI/ODS

Purpose

The primary purpose of the CMI/ODS is to:

support the identification of registered clients through the allocation of a unique state-wide identifier for new clients
store and provide access to a subset of data from local CMI’s that is accessible state-wide
provide state-wide search functionality to support continuity of treatment and care
ensure that the legal basis for providing treatment on a compulsory basis is evident to all services
meet the department’s various reporting requirements
support the statutory functions of the Chief Psychiatrist and the Mental Health Tribunal as described in the Mental Health Act 2014.

The CMI/ODS collection is a critical source of business intelligence for the Mental Health sector. CMI/ODS is not a medical records management system. It complements the local medical record system of public mental health services and provides a way to share statutory data with the department and other services.

Data Quality

The data validation process is in place to identify potential errors within the data and prompt health services to rectify these. The need for health services to undertake efforts to address data validation issues is included as part of the Department of Health & Human Services ‘Policy Funding & Guidelines_Vol 4’ which states ‘Services are required to review and reconcile data quality issues identified by the department and provide return advice on a quarterly basis. All issues from the prior financial year need to be reconciled by the end of November, in time for the annual Mental Health National Minimum Dataset submission.

The submission of Victorian data to the commonwealth involves a series of validation checks which require a response to any issues which are found. The list of edit checks in this document is based on the commonwealth validation rules. Preventing or resolving data quality issues at this stage of the process reduces the need for the Department to follow up with health services regarding these issues at a later date.