Continued Care: Collect Outcome Measurement Assessments

Outcome Measurement Assessments are essential for monitoring client progress in treatment facilities, particularly for conditions such as anxiety and depression. The clinicians select the appropriate standardized assessments, which can be administered in person or through the Patient Portal. The timing of assessments in a session varies, with the initial baseline assessment typically conducted about a week after admission. Post-discharge assessments help track alumni progress and allow for timely intervention if necessary.

Implementing standardized outcome assessments aligns with the Joint Commission’s 2018 requirements, ensuring behavioral healthcare organizations effectively measure patient progress using validated tools or instruments.

Required Permissions: Super Admin, Records Admin, Assessment Manager, Assessment Operator, and Outcome Evaluator. Click here to learn more about the permissions necessary to enroll patients in assessment programs. 

Best Practice Workflow Video

Outcome Measurement Assessments Available in Kipu

The Kipu Outcome Measurement tool is available free of charge to help facilities identify patient needs after admission and support potential post-discharge monitoring. It includes steps for assessment administration, analysis, and follow-up actions to ensure comprehensive patient care.

Best Practice: Instead of recommending every applicable assessment, start with a few fundamental assessments tailored to the facility's specific type of care. Review this curated list categorized by treatment type.

Substance Abuse	Mental Health	Eating Disorder
DAST-10 SOCRATES 8A SOCRATES 8D BAM- R BAM- IOP	PTSD Checklist for DSM-V (PLC-5) GAD-7 PHQ-9 DASS-21	AED-V4

Most patients are automatically enrolled in facility-mandated standardized assessments upon admission. Common assessments include BAM, GAD-7, PHQ-9, and others.

Best Practice: To ensure all patients complete required assessments, use the enroll at admission frequency for the specified assessment to eliminate the need for manual enrollment into the assessment program.

Standardized Outcome Assessments and Enrollment Process

For a more detailed walkthrough and discussion on standardized outcome assessments and the enrollment process, click here.

1. The clinical staff completes a Biopsychosocial or ASAM assessment using centralized documentation.
2. Looking at the results, a licensed staff member will determine if additional outcome assessments are needed within the first week of admission. The user navigates to the Patient Assessments/Outcome Measurements tab to enroll the patient and assign a specific frequency (e.g., every 30 days, every 15 days, one-time).

• • Assessment with interval frequency: The patient receives an automatic Patient Portal notification prompting completion.
    
  • Assessment without interval frequency: The user manually prepares and sends the assessment from the patient’s chart.
    

Best Practice: Ensure that all patients are enrolled in Patient Portal. If an assessment has a scheduled interval frequency, it will be sent automatically after enrollment at the defined intervals.

Best Practice Workflow Steps

Let's review Kipu EMR's best practice workflows to collect outcome measurement assessments.

Workflow 1: Patient Completes Assessment via Patient Portal

For more information on managing patient assessments, check out this article.

1. After receiving a notification, the patient completes the assessment in the Patient Portal.
   
2. The clinician starts the 1:1 session from the Scheduler.
   
3. The clinician navigates to the Patient Assessments/Outcome Measurements tab in the patient’s chart to review the completed assessment.
   

Best Practice: Ensure that every patient’s chart contains an email address to facilitate ongoing Patient Portal access during treatment and post-discharge monitoring. If the patient lacks access to a device, use the in-person workflow instead.

Workflow 2: Patient Completes Assessments In-Person

For inpatient and on-site outpatient facilities, the assessment is conducted during a 1:1 session. The provider may complete the assessment on behalf of the patient or use the lock screen feature so that the patient can self-report. For more information on managing patient assessments, check out this article.

1. Click on Check-In once you start the 1:1 session from the Scheduler.
   
2. Navigate to Patient Assessments/Outcome Measurements tab within the patient’s chart and click the Play icon on the required assessment.
   
3. Select the lock screen icon if the patient is going to complete the assessment on a facility device, or a staff member can complete responses directly in the chart.
   

Workflow 3: Patient Completes Assessment via Telehealth

For outpatient telehealth facilities, patients should complete assessments through Patient Portal. However, providers may choose to administer the assessment virtually via Telehealth. For information on setting up a Scheduler telehealth visit, check out this article.

1. Click on Start Meeting to begin the Telehealth Session from Scheduler.
   
2. Navigate to Patient Assessments/Outcome Measurements tab within the patient’s chart and click Play to start the required assessment.
   
3. The user enter the patient’s responses directly in the chart and complete the assessment.

Outcome Measurement Assessments Results and Reports

Once the assessment results are logged in the patient’s chart, the data is analyzed by the individual patient and facility-wide levels to assess the effectiveness of treatments and interventions. 

• Outcome Measurements Individual and Aggregated Reports are generated to support accreditation, audits, and internal compliance reviews.
  
• Providers review results to adjust treatment plans and engage in discussions with the patient about progress.
• Assessments may continue after discharge to support alumni monitoring and long-term outcome tracking. These assessments help identify the need for additional outreach or support and evaluate treatment effectiveness over time.
  • Important: Discharging a patient does not automatically unenroll them from assessments. Patients remain enrolled until manually unenrolled or until predefined conditions trigger unenrollment. Post-discharge monitoring can be configured to stop after a certain amount of time post discharge. Check out this article for more information on enrolling and unenrolling patients from assessments.

Best Practice: Enable notifications to alert staff when a patient is unenrolled from a program to maintain accurate monitoring.