It’s time to implement measurement-based care in psychiatric practice

On a positive note, I (AA) have completed a MBC curriculum for training psychiatry residents that includes 11 videotaped interviews with actual patients covering the major adult psychiatric disorders: generalized anxiety, panic, depressive, posttraumatic stress, bipolar, psychotic, eating, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity. The interviews show and teach how to rate psychopathology items, how to score the dimensions, and how to evaluate the severity of the disorder(s). All of the SCIP’s 18 scales have been uploaded into the Epic electronic health record (EHR) system at West Virginia University hospitals. A pilot project for implementing MBC in the treatment of adult psychiatric disorders at the West Virginia University residency program and other programs is underway. If we instruct residents in MBC during their psychiatric training, they will likely practice it for the rest of their clinical careers. Except for a minority of clinicians who are involved in clinical trials and who use rating scales in practice, most practicing clinicians were never trained to use scales. For more information about the MBC curriculum and videotapes, contact Dr. Aboraya at aborayascip@gmail.com or visit www.scip-psychiatry.com.

Today, some of the barriers that impede the implementation of MBC in psychiatric practice have been resolved, but much more work remains. Now is the time to implement MBC and provide an answer to AJ Rush, who asked, “Isn’t it about time to employ measurement-based care in practice?”²⁴ The 3 main ingredients for MBC implementation—useful measures, integration of EHR, and health information technologies—exist today. We strongly encourage psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, and other mental health professionals to adopt MBC in their daily practice.

To comment on this editorial or other topics of interest: henry.nasrallah@currentpsychiatry.com.