The Measurement Management Of Clinical Outcomes In Mental Health

THE COMPLETE PSYCHOTHERAPY TREATMENT PLANNER Of Related interest Arthur E. Jongsma, Jr. and L. Mark Peterson This valuable guide provides a thorough introduction to treatment planning and contains all of the necessary elements for developing formal treatment plans. In an easy-reference, prewritten format, this book presents detailed problem definitions, treatment goals, objectives, therapeutic interventions, and DSM-IVTM diagnoses for over thirty common clinical problems. Practitioners in the field will find this book to be a great time-saver and an invaluable reference. 1995 (0-471-11738-2) 176 pp. THERASCRIBETM FOR WINDOWS(r) The Computerized Assistant to Psychotherapy Treatment Planning. Arthur E. Jongsma, Jr., L. Mark Peterson, and Kenneth Jongsma. This revolutionary computerized treatment planning software lets you create detailed, customized treatment plans easily and quickly. Designed for use in both inpatient and outpatient settings, its user-friendly format allows clinicians to easily access a wide variety of behavioral definitions, treatment goals and objectives, therapeutic interventions, and DSM-IV diagnoses from its huge database. Its well-organized reports are designed to meet the requirements of Medicare, HMOs, and other third-party payers, which makes this program an important tool for evaluating and treating mental illness. 1997 (0-471-18415-2) 4 3.5 disks THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO MANAGED BEHAVIORAL HEALTHCARE Edited by Chris E. Stout and Gerald A. Theis Managed care has radically altered the mental health services landscape. This loose-leaf style reference manual, which is updated semiannually, offers in-depth analysis from leading experts of changes in practice management, quality and outcome issues, technology, and automation. It also addresses important legal, regulatory, fiscal, and contractual concerns. Packed with practical tools and useful sample forms, the Guide includes a comprehensive glossary of managed care terms and a complete list of managed care organizations. 1996 (0-471-12586-5) 324 pp. THE MEASUREMENT & MANAGEMENT OF CLINICAL OUTCOMES IN MENTAL HEALTH Once used almost exclusively by psychotherapy researchers, clinical outcomes testing is quickly becoming a standard component of mental health practice. JCAHO has mandated that outcomes must be included in mental health record keeping by the end of the decade, and the six largest managed care firms have announced plans to begin tracking clinical outcomes. While debates over the potential advantages and disadvantages of this move rage on, the fact remains that all clinicians in managed care systems will soon be compelled to incorporate outcomes assessment into their clinical routines. The Measurement and Management of Clinical Outcomes in Mental Health prepares clinicians and administrators for this inevitability. Written by a team of experts with extensive experience in design and implementation, this timely book explores the rationale behind outcomes measurement and offers readers concrete advice and guidelines on conducting accurate and effective outcomes measurement. In the first half of the book, the authors review the conceptual and practical aspects of outcomes management. Among the issues receiving special attention are: the psychometrics of outcomes; measuring patient satisfaction; implementation strategies; the role of consumer characteristics in outcomes management, especially in regard to needs-based planning; case-mix adjustment strategies; and barriers to implementation and strategies for overcoming them. The second half of the book is devoted entirely to detailed case examples. Over the course of five chapters, the authors vividly illustrate their approaches to outcomes management in five different specialty areas—outpatient psychotherapy, acute psychiatric services, community services, child and adolescent services, and substance-abuse treatment services. The first comprehensive guide to designing and implementing outcomes evaluation systems, The Measurement and Management of Clinical Outcomes in Mental Health is an important resource for all mental health practitioners as well as mental health and managed care administrators.

Mental Health Outcome Measures provides an authoritative review of measurement scales currently available to assess the outcomes of mental health service intervention. The excerpt of summaries by leading writers in the field assess the contributions of scale in areas including mental state examination, quality of life, patient satisfaction, needs assessments, measurement of service cost, global functioning scales, and social disability. These chapters provide a critical appraisal of how far such scales have been shown to be reliable and valid, and provide valuable insights in to their ease of use. This book will provide an invaluable reference manual for those who want to take research on mental health services, and for those who need to interpret this research for policy, planning, and clinical practice.

Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are measures of how patients feel or what they are able to do in the context of their health status; PROs are reports, usually on questionnaires, about a patient's health conditions, health behaviors, or experiences with health care that individuals report directly, without modification of responses by clinicians or others; thus, they directly reflect the voice of the patient. PROs cover domains such as physical health, mental and emotional health, functioning, symptoms and symptom burden, and health behaviors. They are relevant for many activities: helping patients and their clinicians make informed decisions about health care, monitoring the progress of care, setting policies for coverage and reimbursement of health services, improving the quality of health care services, and tracking or reporting on the performance of health care delivery organizations. We address the major methodological issues related to choosing, administering, and using PROs for these purposes, particularly in clinical practice settings. We include a framework for best practices in selecting PROs, focusing on choosing appropriate methods and modes for administering PRO measures to accommodate patients with diverse linguistic, cultural, educational, and functional skills, understanding measures developed through both classic and modern test theory, and addressing complex issues relating to scoring and analyzing PRO data.

In order to operate in an evidence-based fashion, mental health services rely on accurate, relevant, and systematic information. One important type of information is the nature of the problems experienced by recipients of mental health care, and how these problems change over the course of time. Outcome measurement involves the systematic, repeated assessment of aspects of health and illness, either by service providers, service recipients, or both. From outcome measurement clinicians and service recipients achieve a common language whereby they can plan treatment and track progress, team leaders and managers secure a basis to compare their services with others and to promote quality, while policy makers and funders derive evidence of effectiveness. This book will be an essential and practical resource for all members of the mental health clinical team as well as those responsible for establishing or managing services, and directing policy.

This User’s Guide is a resource for investigators and stakeholders who develop and review observational comparative effectiveness research protocols. It explains how to (1) identify key considerations and best practices for research design; (2) build a protocol based on these standards and best practices; and (3) judge the adequacy and completeness of a protocol. Eleven chapters cover all aspects of research design, including: developing study objectives, defining and refining study questions, addressing the heterogeneity of treatment effect, characterizing exposure, selecting a comparator, defining and measuring outcomes, and identifying optimal data sources. Checklists of guidance and key considerations for protocols are provided at the end of each chapter. The User’s Guide was created by researchers affiliated with AHRQ’s Effective Health Care Program, particularly those who participated in AHRQ’s DEcIDE (Developing Evidence to Inform Decisions About Effectiveness) program. Chapters were subject to multiple internal and external independent reviews. More more information, please consult the Agency website: www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov)

Clinical Management in Mental Health Services is a practical guide to the day to day operational management of mental health teams. It explores both the theoretical aspects of management plus strategies for dealing with the wide range of management issues faced by managers working in mental health. It looks at issues such as leading a multidisciplinary team, Communication and Public Relations, the importance of clinical supervision, evidence-based practice, and quality assurance. It addresses the issue of workload management, clinical information management, how to plan a budget and how to manage stress.

This remarkable volume offers a critical analysis of outcome assessment in psychiatry, which allows us to assess not only the measurable domains (i.e., symptoms, functioning, quality of life, and perception of care), but also the standards and instruments used to judge the quality of care.