Understanding the MHA PDS

Introduction to the Mental Health & Addictions Provincial Data Set (video)

This video describes purpose and design of the MHA PDS. Key points are also summarized in the page below.

What is the Mental Health & Addiction Centre of Excellence (MHA CoE)?

The MHA CoE is a clinical institute situated within Ontario Health and is responsible for overseeing the delivery and quality of mental health and addictions services and supports within Ontario. The MHA CoE is similar to other clinical institutes, such as Cancer Care Ontario and the Ontario Renal Network.

Read more: Mental Health & Addiction Centre of Excellence (Ontario Health)

What is the MHA PDS?

The Mental Health & Addictions Provincial Data Set (MHA PDS) is a minimum set of routinely collected, client level,  standardized data elements that support direct service delivery and enable consistent and comparable reporting of service utilization, client outcomes & client characteristics across the Ontario Mental Health and Addictions sector. The collection of this data will enable frontline providers and system-level planners to make evidence-based clinical, funding, and service planning decisions.

What data is submitted in the MHA PDS?

For a full description of all data elements submitted in the MHA PDS please see the Reference Data Dictionary and accompanying Scenario Guide.

If a data element is mandatory (bold/underlined) this means it is required when submitting a specific category of data to Ontario Health; for example, “health service event ID” is required to submit information about a health service events to Ontario Health, however, a “health service event ID” is not required to submit client information. Most data elements in the MHA PDS are optional to submit, and service providers submit only portions of the data as they receive it throughout the client journey.

How is the MHA PDS submitted to Ontario Health?

Service providers collect the MHA PDS data elements in their PDS-compliant client management system. The client management system automatically submits MHA PDS to Ontario Health every day. Compliant systems have been built to capture all necessary MHA PDS data elements within the front-end screens/workflows service providers use to manage their clients (registration/intake, service delivery, discharge, etc.), as well automatically submit MHA PDS data to Ontario Health in the required format. 

What health programs are submitted to the MHA PDS?

Community mental health and addiction programs are currently submitted to the MHA PDS based on their functional centre code. Expand the list below to see all functional centre codes currently accepted by the MHA PDS.