Using patient-reported outcomes in measurement-based care: perceived barriers and benefits in oncologists and mental health providers

Author(s):  
Salene M. W. Jones ◽  
Aliana Gaffney ◽  
Joseph M. Unger
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth H Connors ◽  
Aaron R Lyon ◽  
Kaylyn Garcia ◽  
Corianna Sichel ◽  
Sharon Hoover ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Despite an established, comprehensive taxonomy of implementation strategies, minimal guidance exists for how to select and adapt strategies to specific services and contexts. We employed a replicable method to identify the most feasible and important implementation strategies to increase mental health providers’ use of measurement-based care (MBC) in schools. MBC is the routine use of patient-reported progress measures throughout treatment to inform patient-centered, data-driven treatment adjustments. Methods: A national sample of 52 school mental health providers and researchers completed two rounds of modified Delphi surveys to rate the relevance, importance, and feasibility of 33 implementation strategies identified for school settings. Strategies were reduced and definitions refined using a multimethod approach. Final importance and feasibility ratings were plotted on “go-zone” graphs and compared across providers and researchers to identify top-rated strategies. Results: The initial 33 strategies were rated as “relevant” or “relevant with changes” to MBC in schools. Importance and feasibility ratings were high overall for both survey rounds; importance ratings (3.61 - 4.48) were higher than feasibility ratings (2.55 – 4.06) on average. Survey 1 responses resulted in a reduced, refined set of 21 strategies, and six were rated most important and feasible on Survey 2: 1) assess for readiness and identify barriers and facilitators; 2) identify and prepare champions; 3) develop a usable implementation plan; 4) offer a provider-informed menu of free, brief measures; 5) develop and provide access to training materials; and 6) make implementation easier by removing burdensome documentation tasks. Provider and researcher ratings were not significantly different, with a few exceptions: providers reported higher feasibility and importance of removing burdensome paperwork than researchers, and providers reported higher feasibility of train-the trainer approaches than researchers; researchers reported higher importance of monitoring fidelity than providers. Conclusions: The education sector is the most common setting for child and adolescent mental health service delivery in the United States. Effective MBC implementation in schools has the potential to elevate the quality of care received by many children, adolescents and their families. This empirically-derived, targeted list of six implementation strategies offers potential efficiencies for future testing of MBC implementation in schools.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Salene M. W. Jones ◽  
Aliana Gaffney ◽  
Joseph M. Unger

Abstract Background Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) can be used to monitor patients during treatment. Healthcare provider preferences for individualized vs. standardized PROs have been understudied. Methods This study surveyed oncology and mental health providers to compare attitudes towards individualized and standardized PROs. We have developed a method for individualizing PROs, called precision PROs, and the survey specifically assessed preferences for this method. We compared attitudes and preferences by provider type and by whether respondents were current or never users of PROs. Results Oncology providers expressed more positive attitudes for standardized PROs in treatment planning compared to mental health providers (F(1,440) = 5.978, p = 0.015). The interaction between provider type (oncology vs. mental health) and type of PRO (individualized vs. standardized) was not significant for the attitudes about the clinical utility of PROs (p = 0.709). When directly asked about the precision PRO approach, oncologists were less likely to prefer standardized items (OR = 0.478, p = 0.001) or have no preference (OR = 0.445, p = 0.007) to the precision PRO approach when compared to mental health providers. Qualitative analyses suggested standardized PROs may be simpler or easier to understand whereas individualized PROs better capture patient variability and the unique aspects of each patient’s condition. Some mental health providers expressed reticence about letting patients choose how to tailor PROs. Never users of PROs reported more positive attitudes towards individualized measures than standardized measures whereas current users of PROs did not have a difference in attitudes (p = 0.010). User status was mostly unrelated to preferences. Conclusion Results suggest that healthcare provider preference for individualized PROs may differ by medical specialty. How PROs are tailored may need to differ by discipline. This is particularly important given that previous research showing a preference for individualized PROs over standardized was conducted with psychotherapists. Further research on patient preferences for individualized and standardized PROs is warranted as is research on the clinical utility of individualized PROs such as the precision PRO approach.


2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill Calderon ◽  
Paul E. Hagan ◽  
Jennifer A. Munch ◽  
Crystal Rofkahr ◽  
Sinead Unsworth ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Elizabeth Weiskittle ◽  
Michelle Mlinac ◽  
LICSW Nicole Downing

Social distancing measures following the outbreak of COVID-19 have led to a rapid shift to virtual and telephone care. Social workers and mental health providers in VA home-based primary care (HBPC) teams face challenges providing psychosocial support to their homebound, medically complex, socially isolated patient population who are high risk for poor health outcomes related to COVID-19. We developed and disseminated an 8-week telephone or virtual group intervention for front-line HBPC social workers and mental health providers to use with socially isolated, medically complex older adults. The intervention draws on skills from evidence-based psychotherapies for older adults including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, and Problem-Solving Therapy. The manual was disseminated to VA HBPC clinicians and geriatrics providers across the United States in March 2020 for expeditious implementation. Eighteen HBPC teams and three VA Primary Care teams reported immediate delivery of a local virtual or telephone group using the manual. In this paper we describe the manual’s development and clinical recommendations for its application across geriatric care settings. Future evaluation will identify ways to meet longer-term social isolation and evolving mental health needs for this patient population as the pandemic continues.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua L. Golubovsky ◽  
Arbaz Momin ◽  
Nicolas R. Thompson ◽  
Michael P. Steinmetz

OBJECTIVEBertolotti syndrome is a rare spinal condition that causes low-back pain due to a lumbosacral transitional vertebra (LSTV), which is a pseudoarticulation between the fifth lumbar transverse process and the sacral ala. Bertolotti syndrome patients are rarely studied, particularly with regard to their quality of life. This study aimed to examine the quality of life and prior treatments in patients with Bertolotti syndrome at first presentation to the authors’ center in comparison with those with lumbosacral radiculopathy.METHODSThis study was a retrospective cohort analysis of patients with Bertolotti syndrome and lumbosacral radiculopathy due to disc herniation seen at the authors’ institution’s spine center from 2005 through 2018. Diagnoses were confirmed with provider notes and imaging. Variables collected included demographics, diagnostic history, prior treatment, patient-reported quality of life metrics, and whether or not they underwent surgery at the authors’ institution. Propensity score matching by age and sex was used to match lumbosacral radiculopathy patients to Bertolotti syndrome patients. Group comparisons were made using t-tests, Fisher’s exact test, Mann-Whitney U-tests, Cox proportional hazards models, and linear regression models where variables found to be different at the univariate level were included as covariates.RESULTSThe final cohort included 22 patients with Bertolotti syndrome who had patient-reported outcomes data available and 46 propensity score–matched patients who had confirmed radiculopathy due to disc herniation. The authors found that Bertolotti syndrome patients had significantly more prior epidural steroid injections (ESIs) and a longer time from symptom onset to their first visit. Univariate analysis showed that Bertolotti syndrome patients had significantly worse Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) mental health T-scores. Adjustment for prior ESIs and time from symptom onset revealed that Bertolotti syndrome patients also had significantly worse PROMIS physical health T-scores. Time to surgery and other quality of life metrics did not differ between groups.CONCLUSIONSPatients with Bertolotti syndrome undergo significantly longer workup and more ESIs and have worse physical and mental health scores than age- and sex-matched patients with lumbosacral radiculopathy. However, both groups of patients had mild depression and clinically meaningful reduction in their quality of life according to all instruments. This study shows that Bertolotti syndrome patients have a condition that affects them potentially more significantly than those with lumbosacral radiculopathy, and increased attention should be paid to these patients to improve their workup, diagnosis, and treatment.


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