A complete, step-by-step guide to tracking and documenting treatment outcomes
Outcomes assessment has become an increasingly critical component of contemporary mental health practice, yet most therapists receive little or no training in accepted outcomes assessment and documentation methods. Tracking Mental Health Outcomes fills this gap, providing step-by-step guidance on choosing the best outcomes-tracking methods and instruments for your practice. You’ll see how to integrate them into everyday clinical procedures and use the data they supply to improve the quality of care you provide as well as fully comply with insurance company and regulatory agency requirements.
An indispensable working resource for mental health professionals, Tracking Mental Health Outcomes:
- Describes both intraclient and normative approaches to outcomes assessment and how to integrate them into your practice
- Uses DSM-IVTM as the standard reference point for assessing outcomes
- Provides clear-cut examples of third-party payer requirements
- Describes commercially available assessment instruments and how to use them
- Features case examples illustrating how to perform and document outcomes assessment–from initial intake to termination
- Supplies blank forms for recording and tracking outcomes data on the enclosed computer disk
Table of Contents
Quick Reference Guide to Sample Forms
Preface
DEFINING MENTAL HEALTH OUTCOMES
Introduction and Historical Overview of Outcome Research and Assessment
The Need for Outcome Assessment
Individual and Normative Approaches to Outcome Assessment
INDIVIDUALIZED OUTCOME ASSESSMENT
Measuring and Quantifying Ongoing Behaviors
Assessing Outcome Through the DSM-IV Interview and Intake Information
Assessing Outcome Using the Treatment Plan
Assessing Outcome Using Progress Notes and Ongoing Charting
NORMATIVE OUTCOME ASSESSMENT
Defining Clinically Significant Change
Normative Data and Examples for Four Common Outcome Measures
Selecting Standardized Outcome Measures
Collecting and Analyzing Normative Outcome Data
INTEGRATION
Integrating Individual and Normative Outcome Measures
References
Appendix
Blank Forms
About the Authors
About the Disk