What is Measurement-Based Care?
Measurement-based care (MBC) is the systematic evaluation of symptoms before or during an encounter and use of the results to inform decision-making about treatment at the level of the individual client (Fortney et al., 2016; Lewis et al., 2019).
Why is MBC Important for Mental Health Systems?
- Currently, we have little data to help us understand the youth mental health system
- What data we do have typically describes numbers of individuals, diagnostic categories, and types of treatments
- Monitoring outcomes (response to treatment) facilitates an understanding of performance currently unavailable
Utility of MBC for Clients
Increases treatment engagement
Improves understanding of symptoms
Eases ability to communicate about and quantify their experience
Enhances rapport with service provider (e.g. feeling that providers are taking their mental health problems seriously)
Utility of MBC for Service Providers
Optimizes efficiency, accuracy, & consistency of assessing needs or symptoms
Enhances ability to track goal achievement & detect changes
Facilitates collaboration/care coordination
Helps inform treatment decisions
Utility of MBC for Organizations and Health Systems
Aggregate data can be used to:
Monitor effectiveness of specific treatments, treatment components, and clinical programs
Target areas for professional development and quality improvement
Demonstrate competency & value to accreditors and funders
Evidence for Effectiveness of MBC
- Significantly improved patient outcomes compared to usual care, especially for non-responsive patients
- Decreased likelihood of patient deterioration during treatment
- Decreased costs of care
- Faster symptom improvement in youth
How Does Dacima/"My Wellness Passport" Support MBC?
- Health information technology makes MBC tools easier to administer, score, & access data
- Dacima/My Wellness Passport is an example of a measurement-feedback system:
- Can be used in tandem with an organization’s existing electronic health records
- Able to provide feedback that is timely/current
- Easy to access during a clinical encounter
- Easy to interpret
- Paired with tools that support clinical decision-making
More information on the YWHO data collection platform is available on the following page: YWHO Data Collection Platform / Plateforme de Collecte des Données CBEJO
