Monitoring Alcohol and other Drug Treatment: What Would an Optimal System Look Like?

This article focuses on the state of the art in the design, development, Operation and evaluation of information systems intended to monitor the delivery of specialized alcohol and drug treatment services. We draw particular attention to the conceptual frameworks that guide an overall treatment information system and that can serve as a template for planning new systems or reviewing existing ones. Several key principles are articulated including an open systems perspective to help manage change; active participation and buy-in from a wide range of key stakeholders; and a heavy emphasis on utilization (influence) of the results. We also highlight the ways in which an alcohol and drug services research agenda might intersect with these information systems and consider alternative frameworks for describing use of the information they produce. Supports must be provided at multiple levels in the provider agencies and on an ongoing basis in order to address low capacity for entering quality data at the provider level. The research community should play an important role in helping frame the questions these systems can (and cannot) address; developing high quality performance indicators; supporting innovative local and central data analysis; and reporting aspects of the data of broad interest from a research and health policy perspective.