Measurement-based care (MBC) is transforming mental health care. A key part of evidence-based care, MBC uses science and patient data to create more effective treatments. However, less than 20% of clinicians use MBC despite proven benefits like increased engagement, more collaboration and improved client outcomes.
Like anything new, MBC can require a learning curve, but once you’ve learned and used it, your practice and clients can benefit in numerous ways. Here, we’ll discuss the meaning of MBC, how it works and how it can transform your practice.
What Is Measurement-Based Care (MBC)?
MBC is an approach in mental health treatment that uses quantitative data to help clinicians and clients track treatment progress. Using standardized measurement tools, you gather data about a client’s symptoms, functioning and overall well-being over time. The goal is to inform your care decisions and enhance the quality of treatment.
Typically, MBC involves:
- Regular assessments: Through routine assessments at key points, providers gather data and insights about a client’s progress.
- Data collection: Physicians gather information using certain tools like the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) and the Beck Depression Inventory.
- Feedback loops: Clinicians and clients discuss the results, making any adjustments to treatment based on real-time data.
Over time, MBC data could offer insights into your clients’ progress — for example, it could show rates of anxiety or depression symptoms falling or clients feeling more and more comfortable in social situations. It could also show when a client is stuck and needs further help.
Benefits of Measurement-Based Care in Behavioral Health
Research shows MBC benefits clients in many ways, from helping them be more involved in their own mental health journey to improving their outcomes and satisfaction with treatment. Using the approach at your practice can lead to several advantages:
Empowering Clients
One of the biggest benefits of MBC is its ability to empower clients in their own treatments. Anyone struggling with depression, anxiety or addiction, for instance, can see how they’re progressing in real time and how effective certain treatments have been for their symptoms over time. They gain insights into their health and feel more ownership over their journey, making them active participants in their care.
Improved Outcomes
Research shows that MBC can improve mental health outcomes. One study found that those who engaged in MBC experienced reduced symptoms, lower dropout rates and more satisfaction with treatment. Another study reported a 74% remission rate with MBC tools for patients compared to the group receiving standard care alone, which had a reported 29% remission rate. It also found that 79% of patients adhered to their medications with MBC compared to 67% of the standard care group.
Enhanced Therapeutic Relationships
MBC can also strengthen the therapeutic relationship between clinicians and clients. The approach calls for more collaboration on treatment goals and regularly reviewing progress together, helping clinicians build trust with their clients. Working together can enhance the patient experience and encourage them to stick to treatment.
Personalized Treatment
MBC leads to more personalized care. By continuously assessing their responses to therapy, you can tailor interventions to meet your clients’ individual needs. This kind of flexibility is critical in mental health care, where a one-size-fits-all approach often falls short.
Challenges in Adopting MBC and Overcoming Barriers
Despite its numerous benefits, some challenges to integrating MBC may initially deter physicians:
- Clinician skepticism: Some providers may be concerned that MBC could disrupt the natural therapy process. However, research has found that MBC can be highly feasible and easy to implement. In a six-month study for substance use disorder (SUD) clients, patients engaged in 85.8% of weekly check-ins. Most patients found weekly check-ins interesting and helpful for self-reflection, while clinicians reported that the information they gained from MBC was useful, and they discussed it with their clients.
- Adding to workload: While clinicians may feel that MBC could cut into therapy time with patients, the same study mentioned above found that it took patients less than five minutes to check into their MBC platform and clinicians three minutes to review MBC results. Using digital tools can automate data collection and streamline feedback, making it easier for you to adopt MBC.
- Lack of training: MBC is not regularly taught to psychiatrists, leaving many professionals unprepared to implement it in their practice. You can overcome this barrier by starting small. Begin with a single tool or target a specific patient population when piloting MBC to address the learning curve.
- Generalized fear of the new: Even the term “Measurement-Based” has led to general feelings of skepticism and fear, especially around the idea that a clinician’s expertise and connection could be deprioritized as key contributors in the care continuum. Multiple entities have, for that reason among others, leaned into the term “Measurement Informed Care.” The idea there is critical in any MBC implementation: we are giving caretakers another tool to inform care, but not around which to entirely base care.
Practical Steps for Clinicians
Here’s how you could leverage MBC in your practice step-by-step:
1. Assessment
Clients fill out a short electronic assessment or screener before every session or two (depending on your established workflow) that shows how they’re doing psychologically, emotionally, socially and functionally. An assessment may also assess the clinician-client relationship.
If not already in place, you’ll need to choose an assessment tool most relevant to your client population, such as the PHQ-9 to assess depression symptoms, GAD-7 for anxiety or the Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) to assess the involvement of substance use.
2. Data Analysis
Quickly and via their own mobile device, clients can send the data straight to you. You can then review it conveniently with easy yet powerful graphs and metrics. Moreover, if the data indicate crisis, MBC can inform the appropriate touchpoints involved in your client’s care with the necessary urgency.
3. Feedback
This is where the provider and the data come together. With two-way communications, providers— now impowered with data from patient reported outcomes— can engage clients both in-between and during sessions to address findings and discuss the client’s progress or any perceived issues in the therapeutic alliance.
4. Action
If the data shows any considerable improvements or declines, the two of you can decide whether to change specific areas of treatment, stay on the current therapy path or even end therapy if you both feel the client has made headway toward reaching their goals.
Moreover, caretakers can be rapidly alerted in the event of a critical response from a client. We’re all well aware that mental health emergencies don’t happen on a set schedule, which means an extra set of eyes and ears can make an enormously positive impact on care outcomes.
The Future of MBC
As more clinicians become aware of MBC, we’ll see an increase in this data-driven approach. Doctors might use artificial intelligence (AI) tools and predictive analytics alongside it to further MBC practices and create even more personalized care.
As a clinician, you can champion MBC initiatives and advocate for better training and resources to support its growth.
Why Trust Us?
Mend’s patient digital engagement platform can reduce no-show rates and increase your client outcomes. Our solutions provide a frictionless engagement and telehealth experience that can also automate your workflow so you can adopt MBC with much more ease. The technology can also help create digital workflows for patient intake that result in 90%+ form completions, clinical assessments, income verification, treatment plans and various psychiatry workflows.
Physicians who choose Mend have reduced no-show rates from 30 to 40% to single digits. Explore our client testimonials and how it works to discover how our platform can benefit your clients and practice.
Implement MBC With Help From Mend
Measurement-based care can improve client outcomes and experiences. Trust Mend to support your journey with our innovative patient engagement platform. With our cutting-edge solutions, you can streamline and simplify the data collection process, helping you track client progress over time, reduce no-show rates, automate paperwork and enhance client interactions.
Our goal is to empower your clients and practice with a more personalized, data-driven approach to care. Request a demo today to see the difference our patient engagement platform can make in helping you implement MBC and grow your practice.
