Clinical Focus
Outcomes Measurement - a Touch Away
Behavioral health care providers are increasingly challenged to track objective consumer outcomes to demonstrate evidence-based practice results, meet accreditation requirements and stay competitive. Magellan understands that the challenges of measuring outcomes come not only from collecting data, but also from using the assessment process and real-time information to build trust, enhance the therapeutic alliance, and plan treatment with consumers.
To meet these challenges, Magellan worked closely with QualityMetric, Incorporated, the industry leader in health status measurement, to design brief outcomes measurement tools. The self-report Consumer Health Inventory (CHI) and the caretaker-completed Consumer Health Inventory-Child Version (CHI-C) have been developed for our Public Sector network providers (and other practitioners as appropriate) to use.
The CHI tools incorporate standard items from the widely recognized SF-12®* Health Survey and new items related to consumer health and productivity. Consumers can complete the Web-based CHI tools online in their provider’s office or on a home computer, if available. Scored reports can be printed in-office for immediate review with consumers. Providers also can review individual summary profiles and aggregate practice reports online at their convenience.
Both the CHI and CHI-C are available in English and Spanish. The CHI tools are user-friendly for consumers and providers, easy to administer and interpret, and sensitive to change across the course of treatment. More than 800 CHIs have been completed in Maricopa County, Ariz., and it is being introduced in several of our other Public Sector specialty programs across the country.
Magellan is eager to help providers learn more about the CHI tools and how they will benefit individual consumers and their practice overall. We have taken care to create a tool to complement your clinical skills and practice. By maintaining our focus on recovery, resiliency and wellness, Magellan supports our providers’ cutting-edge practices.
You are welcome to visit our Outcomes360 Library for detailed information on all of our outcomes measurement tools. We plan to communicate additional details about the CHI and CHI-C in the coming months.
* The SF-12® Health Survey is a 12-item subset of the SF-36®. Each measures the same eight domains of health, giving results in the form of a Physical Component Scale and a Mental Component Scale. The SF-12® is a brief, reliable measure of overall health status and is widely used as a screening tool. It is useful in large population health surveys and its scores allow comparison with the normative U.S. population.