What is it about?
Using patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) to guide care has been shown to improve results and is considered a best practice in mental health. However, many healthcare systems have had trouble making it a regular part of care. This article explains how the authors used technology to overcome these challenges with their Measurement-Assisted Care (MAC) program. In MAC, PROMs are automatically included in patients' eCheck-in forms and clinician documentation, helping remind clinicians to review and discuss the responses during appointments. As a result, the availability of PROMs at patient visits increased from 5% to over 60%, and more than 90% of clinicians said the information was helpful in providing better care.
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Why is it important?
Mental health problems like depression and anxiety are extremely common and can be debilitating. Although effective treatments are available, wait times tend to be long because systems do not have enough capacity to meet the need. The practice of using patient-reported outcomes is a systems-based intervention that has been shown to help people recover more fully and quickly. So most importantly, this practice can help patients get more effective mental health care. Because of the enhanced efficiency, we would also expect to create capacity in the system to reduce wait times and help more people.
Perspectives
Because of the improved mental health outcomes associated with using patient-reported information to guide care, many systems are looking for sustainable ways to incorporate the practice into their usual care processes. In the paper, we describe a relatively simple yet comprehensive program for doing so along with considerations for systems to tailor to their own context. If/as other systems adopt similar methods, I hope the paper will stimulate collaboration and discussion about a variety of ways we can support the use of this best practice in mental health care.
Dana Steidtmann
University of Colorado - Anschutz Medical Campus
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Using Technology to Support Measurement-Based Care: Design and Implementation of the Measurement-Assisted Care Program, Psychiatric Services, October 2024, American Psychiatric Association,
DOI: 10.1176/appi.ps.20240135.
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