"Outcome informed care" refers to the practice of incorporating client/patient-reported treatment outcomes into the treatment process. Clients/patients who are receiving treatment are asked to complete a self-report questionnaire that is administered at multiple points in time (preferably at intake and every session thereafter). These client/patient outcome data are then made available to the clinician as a tool to monitor progress throughout the course of treatment. Progress is assessed by benchmarking the client/patient's actual progress against an estimate of expected progress (by using the outcome instrument's normative data or by using data sets derived from previous clients/patients' experiences in treatment). By comparing actual progress to expected (or predicted) progress, a clinician can objectively identify clients/patients that are at risk for treatment failure (i.e., drop out). Treatment can then be adjusted to better meet the individual client/patient's needs. A number of self-report instruments have been adopted for this purpose, and they vary in their length (number of items), cost (i.e., some instruments are proprietary others are in the public domain) and sensitivity to change (i.e., the ability to reliably detect changes at repeated points of measurement).

This quality improvement topic is intended to provide a forum that allows individual clinicians, administrators and other health care stakeholders to exchange resources, post research and describe their experiences implementing outcome informed care processes.

• OQMeasures.com
  • Outcome questionnaires
  • OQ-Analyst Software
• Behavioral Health Labratories
  • Outcome questionnaires
  • Sophisticating case mix adjustment methodology
• TalkingCure.com - The Institute for the Study of Therapeutic Change
• PsychOutcomes.org - The ACORN Organization, Inc. (non-profit)
  • Public domain outcome questionnaires
  • Outcomes measurement online tutorial
  • "How to" help for outcomes informed care initiatives
• Not the Top!
  • Web site for group advocating organized opposition to an outcomes informed care initiative.
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• Baldwin SA, Wampold BE and Imel ZE. Untangling the alliance-outcome correlation: Exploring the relative importance of therapist and patient variability in the alliance. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2007 Dec;75(6):842-52.
• Brown GS, Burlingame GM, Lambert MJ, et al. 2001. Pushing the quality envelope: A new outcomes management system. Psychiatr Serv 52(7):925-34.
• Brown GS, Jones ER. 2005. Implementation of a feedback system in a managed care environment: What are patients teaching us? J Clin Psychol 61(2):187-98.
• Claiborn CD, Goodyear EK. 2005. Feedback in psychotherapy. J Clin Psychol 61(2):209-21.
• Hannan C, Lambert MJ, Harmon C et al. 2005. A lab test and algorithms for identifying clients at risk for treatment failure. J Clin Psychol 61(2):155-63.
• Harmon C, Hawkins, Lambert MJ et al. 2005. Improving outcomes for poorly responding clients: The use of clinical support tools and feedback to clients. J Clin Psychol 61(2):175-85.
• Lambert MJ, Harmon C, Slade K et al. 2005. Providing feedback to psychotherapists on their patients progress: Clinical results and practice suggestions J Clin Psychol 61(2):165-74.
• Lambert MJ, Whipple JL, Hawkins EJ, et al. 2003. Is it time for clinicians to routinely track patient outcome? A meta-analysis. Clin Psychol Sci Prac 10:288-301.
• Lambert MJ, Whipple JL, Smart DW, et al. 2001. The effects of providing therapists with feedback on patient progress during psychotherapy: Are outcomes enhanced? Psychother Res 11(1):49-68.
• Lambert MJ, Whipple JL, Vermeersch DA, et al. 2002. Enhancing psychotherapy outcomes via providing feedback on client progress: A replication. Clin Psychol Psychother 9:91-103.
• Lueger RJ. 1998. Using feedback on patient progress to predict the outcome of psychotherapy. J Clin Psychol 54:383-93.
• Matsumoto K, Jones E, Brown GS. 2003. Using clinical informatics to improve outcomes: A new approach to managing behavioral healthcare. J Info Tech Health Care 1(2):135-50.
• Miller SD, Duncan BL, Ryan S, et al. 2005. The Partners for Change Outcome Management System. J Clin Psychol 61(2):199-208.
• Minami, T., Wampold, B. E., Serlin, R. C., Hamilton, E., Brown, G. S., & Kircher, J. 2007. Benchmarking the effectiveness of psychotherapy treatment for adult depression in a managed care environment.
• Minami, T., Wampold, B. E., Serlin, R. C., Kircher, J. C., & Brown, G. S. 2007. Benchmarks for psychotherapy efficacy in adult major depression, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 75, 232-243.
• Sapyta J, Riemer M, Bickman L. 2005. Feedback to therapist: theory, research, and practice. J Clin Psychol 61(2):145-53.
• Wampold BE. 2001. The great psychotherapy debate: Models, Methods, and Findings. Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 272 pp.
• Wampold BE, Brown GS. 2005. Estimating variability in outcomes due to the therapist: A naturalistic study of outcomes in managed care. J Consul Clin Psychol. 73(5): 914-923.
• Westen D, Morrison K. 2001. A multidimensional meta-analysis of treatments for depression, panic, and generalized anxiety disorder: An empirical examination of the status of empirically supported therapies. J Consul Clin Psychol 69:875-99.
• Whipple JL, Lambert MJ, Vermeersch DA, et al. 2003. Improving the effects of psychotherapy: The use of early identification of treatment failure and problem-solving strategies in routine practice. J Counsel Psychol 50(1):59-68.
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