THE DEVELOPMENT OF PATIENT PROFILES FOR MINNESOTA TREATMENT OUTCOMES MONITORING-SYSTEM

Minnesota's treatment outcomes monitoring system is a cooperative effo rt between the Stale alcohol and drug abuse agency and 366 licensed tr eatment providers. A minimum dataset is required on all treatment admi ssions to provide a stale-wide system profile. In addition, data are b eing collected on a sample of 30 patients from each program to measure patient characteristics and severity of problems, patient perceptions of needed assistance, actual nature and amount of services received, patient satisfaction and patient functioning 6 months following discha rge from treatment. The dimensions measured include alcohol and other drug use, physical health, psychological well-being, employment and fi nancial status, family and social relationships and criminality. The a ggregated data will be analysed to determine what types of services ar e associated with more favorable outcomes for different types of patie nts. The findings will be used to develop standards for treatment plac ement and service delivery based on individual patient profiles. This report provides an overview of the plan and an illustration of how pat ient profiles can be developed for purposes of treatment service match ing and outcomes monitoring.