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