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Implementing Standardized Assessments in Clinical Care: Now's the Time

The authors are members of the Committee on Psychopathology of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry. Dr. Valenstein is affiliated with the Health Services Research and Development, Serious Mental Illness Treatment Research and Evaluation Center, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Box 130170, Ann Arbor, MI 48113-0170 (e-mail: marciav{at}med.umich.edu). Dr. Adler is with the Department of Psychiatry, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston. Dr. Berlant is in private practice in Boise, Idaho, and Kentfield, California. Dr. Dixon is with the VA Capitol Health Care Network Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Centers (MIRECC), Baltimore. Dr. Hackman is with the Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore. Dr. Dulit is with the Weill Medical College of Cornell, New York City. Dr. Goldman is a medical consultant with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Detroit. Dr. Oslin is with the Veterans Integrated Service Network 4, MIRECC, Philadelphia. Dr. Siris is with the Department of Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York City. Dr. Sonis is with the Department of Psychiatry, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia.

In this Open Forum the Committee on Psychopathology within the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry (GAP) strongly encourages clinicians and health systems to implement standardized assessments of patients' outcomes for mental disorders, particularly disorders such as depression. The GAP committee describes how calls for the regular use of standardized scales in clinical settings naturally follow from the development and dissemination of treatment guidelines. It discusses the challenges involved in implementing routine outcome measures in clinical settings and explains why the advantages of measurement-based care make addressing these challenges worthwhile. Finally, the committee makes practical suggestions for clinicians and systems attempting to implement routine outcome measures in their clinics.

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