Little is known about the optimal approaches for incorporating MBC into SUD treatment settings. However, despite the benefits of MBC for non-SUD mental health conditions, the use of MBC in SUD treatment settings has been limited. MBC for non-SUD mental health conditions has been associated with better treatment outcomes and improved quality of care, including better detection of clinical improvement and decline, improved therapeutic alliance, more accurate clinical judgments, and improved individualization of care. Measurement-based care (MBC), which is the practice of routinely measuring and reviewing treatment progress using standardized measures, can help patients and clinicians understand whether an individual patient is responding to treatment and can help inform clinical decision-making regarding the current course of treatment. Even when patients receive evidence-based treatments in these settings, the clinical course and outcomes of individual patients vary considerably. MBC tools may be particularly adoptable if they are compatible with existing workflows, help illustrate gradual and nonlinear progress in SUD treatment, measure outcomes perceived as clinically useful, accommodate multiple use cases and stakeholder groups, and are framed as an additional source of information meant to augment, rather than replace, existing practices and information sources.Įvery year, over 2.5 million American adults receive treatment in substance use disorder (SUD) facilities. MBC may be a beneficial tool for improving clinical care in SUD treatment settings. Numerous patient outcomes were identified as “very helpful” to track, including coping skills, social support, and motivation for change. Clinicians generated several ideas and preferences aimed at minimizing burden of MBC, illustrating clinical changes over time, improving ease of use, and improving personalization.
Clinicians also expressed potential drawbacks, including concerns about subjectivity in patient self-reports, limits to personalization, increased time burdens, and needing to learn to use new technologies. ResultsĬlinicians reported several potential benefits of MBC, including improved patient-provider communication, client empowerment, and improved communication between clinicians. Clinicians also completed a card sorting task to rate the perceived helpfulness of routinely measuring and monitoring different treatment outcomes. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and coded to allow for thematic analysis using a mixed deductive and inductive approach. Interviews focused on clinicians’ perceived benefits, drawbacks, and ideas related to implementing MBC technology into their clinical workflows. Methodsįifteen clinicians from one publicly-funded and two privately-funded outpatient SUD treatment clinics participated in one-on-one research interviews. The current study gathered qualitative data from SUD treatment clinicians about their perceptions of MBC, the clinical outcomes they would most like to monitor in MBC, and suggestions for the design and implementation of MBC systems in their settings. Despite evidence of its effectiveness, MBC is rarely adopted in routine substance use disorder (SUD) treatment settings and little is known about the factors that may improve its adoptability in these settings. Measurement-based care (MBC) is the practice of routinely administering standardized measures to support clinical decision-making and monitor treatment progress.