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Measurement Based Care in Ambulatory Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Yale New Haven Health System

PI: Dr. Amber W. Childs

Within Yale New Haven Health System’s (YNHHS) ambulatory and psychiatry and behavioral health (PbeH) services, MBC has been identified as a key strategy within care signature to advance implementation of evidence-based practices and the ability to evaluate their impact on mental health care outcomes. Core goals include implementation and fidelity to practice of MBC within and across YNHHS PbeH five delivery networks. Secondary goals include leveraging aggregate data insights for quality improvement.

M-Select, Digital Innovation for MBC

PI: Dr. Amber W. Childs

M-Select, an YNHHS Innovation Award winning digital innovation with a $150K seed investment, is a new platform designed to simplify and enhance implementation of MBC. M-select fills a much-needed gap in the MBC measurement-feedback system marketplace, with the first offering designed to meet the unique mental health needs of youth populations in non-psychiatric settings. With M-Select, providers will be able to enhance care quality, satisfy key accreditation requirements, and generate new revenue potential through MBC reimbursement. M-Select is in an active build stage and collaborators are encouraged to reach out to Dr. Childs.

Selecting Implementation Strategies to Advance MBC in School Mental Health

PI: Dr. Elizabeth Connors

Funding: National Institute of Mental Health K08MH116119

Wondering how to implement MBC in school-based mental health (SMH) treatment services? So are we! The purpose of this study is to identify which implementation strategies are most important and feasible for implementing MBC in the school context. It is especially important to better understand MBC implementation in schools which more “usual care” children’s mental health treatment services are delivered than any other service sector, including outpatient clinics. A national sample of 52 SMH stakeholders (i.e., clinicians, clinical supervisors, and researchers) completed two rounds of a modified Delphi survey to rate and provide feedback on implementation strategies for MBC in schools. Top-rated strategies and definitions based on stakeholder consensus are available here. These strategies are currently being pilot tested with SMH clinicians in Connecticut school districts in the FOCUSS study.

Feedback and Outcomes for Clinically-Useful Student Services (FOCUSS)

PI: Dr. Elizabeth Connors

Funding: National Institute of Mental Health K08MH116119

Schools and school-based mental health clinicians face numerous practical challenges to integrating MBC into mental health early intervention (Tier 2) and treatment (Tier 3) services and supports for students. FOCUSS is a Hybrid Type 3 implementation-effectiveness pilot trial of MBC implementation in schools that applies the most promising implementation strategies identified in our prior work and augments and tailors those strategies to school district-specific challenges, resources and contextual factors. Although the primary goal of FOCUSS is to improve SMH clinician adoption and implementation of MBC with students served throughout the school year, the project team is also observing effects of MBC implementation on student psychosocial outcomes.

Strategic Treatment and Assessment for Youth (STAY) Pilot Study

PIs: Drs. Prerna Arora and Elizabeth Connors

Collaborator: Dr. Amber Childs

Funding: Teachers College Columbia University

STAY is a culturally-tailored MBC protocol designed to improve treatment engagement and retention among racial and ethnic minority adolescents with depression. This study uses virtual interviews with racial and ethnic minority teens with depression, their parents or guardians, and mental health clinicians to improve depression treatment by providing feedback on the initial STAY clinical model developed by Drs. Arora and Connors. The purpose of STAY is to leverage principles of MBC and culturally-adapted treatment modifications to learn ways to help teens stay in treatment and get the individualized, culturally-responsive treatment services they deserve.

Measurement Based Care in Mental Health Initiative, Veterans Health Administration, Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention

Director: Dr. Sandra Resnick

Associate Director: Dr. Jessica Barber

Due to the evidence supporting the efficacy of MBC in mental health care, in 2016 VA launched the Initiative to implement MBC through all of VA mental health via a series of phased rollouts. The MBC in MH Initiative, based in the Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention (OMHSP), partners with other OMHSP leadership, other VHA offices, and the field to provide coordination and standardization of in MBC across VA. The Initiative supports the field in implementing MBC by providing education, consultation, and tracking tools.