ASSESSING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MENTAL-HEALTH-CARE IN ROUTINE CLINICAL-PRACTICE - CHARACTERISTICS, DEVELOPMENT, AND USES OF PATIENT OUTCOMESMODULES

The health care delivery system faces continually increasing pressure to be accountable for the historically unparalleled amount of resource s it utilizes. This article discusses one set of recently developed to ols known as outcomes modules that are used to assess how treatment af fects outcomes in patients with a given disorders. These tools current ly are being used to inform administrative decisions about how to impr ove the quality of care, and can potentially influence decisions by pa tients, providers, and payers of care as well. The critical components of outcomes modules, as well as their administration and applications are described, using modules for psychiatric conditions as examples.