As there is more and more pressure from insurance and government sources, as well as the Joint Commission, it is important for treatment centers to get serious about collecting outcomes of their program and their patients.
Admittedly, figuring out which metrics to track and how to track them is challenging. One Step works with over 500 facilities and sober homes to help them do exactly that. Let’s discuss how you should approach measuring outcomes.
1) Figure out which metrics to track and how you define each metric
This is probably the hardest part. I recommend sitting down with your team and brainstorming what metrics you care about as an organization. It is just as important to include the clinicians as it is to include the admissions teams in these decisions. We at One Step always recommend that you start with basic metrics and not overcomplicate things.
Some recommended metrics:
- # of Admissions
- # of Discharges by Type (Normal, ASA etc)
- % Substance of Choice
- % MAT
- # of Successes During Program
- # of Successes Post Program (1 month, 3 month, 6 month)
- % Employed Upon Discharge
2) Define what each metric measures
Each metric you pick must be defined so that you and your team knows exactly how each metric is measured. For example, let’s take % employed upon discharge. Do you count those that dont provide any employment information into your statistics? What is the definition of employed – does contact work count? Volunteer work? All of this must be defined clearly.
3) Discuss how you are going to track them
Now that you have a list of metrics you want to track, you have to figure out how you are going to measure them. Without collecting individual patient data, your aggregate outcomes metrics will be non-existent. It is important to understand who in your organization is responsible for data collection and making sure patients and alumni are filling out the appropriate information. Upon intake, make sure all this information is filled out appropriately. Then, periodically during treatment, most facilities have patients fill out surveys to evaluate them – this is a requirement by the Joint Commission. Upon discharge, they should again fill out the requested information. Post discharge collection of data is the most tricky. We recommend having 1 dedicated person on the team to handle alumni relations. This person should call alumni 1x per week and collect as much up to date information as possible so you have a complete picture of the patient during and post treatment. Many treatment centers use One Step so the alumni relations manager can track whom they have contacted and update their records. They can also use One Step’s HIPAA compliant chat to message alumni to ask questions or send surveys to fill out.
4) Understand how you are going to analyze the data
It is very important to figure out who on the team will be responsible for analyzing the aggregate data collected. This person should measure the data every quarter, and on an annual basis.
This is exactly why treatment centers use One Step – all of the metrics and aggregation of data is done programmatically. Calculating all of it and figuring out which data to include and which not to include would be laborious if done by hand.
5) Develop a plan of action on how to implement changes based on what the data says
Once you analyze all the data being collected, you should have a process to evaluate the data and come to conclusions that would better your program. This step is crucial, after all, what is the point of collecting data if there is no feedback loop? Once data is collected, we recommend having a quarterly meeting with the team to go over all the data collected and coming up with a short term plan of action and which changes you will be implementing in your program.
If you’d like to start using One Step to help you measure outcomes, email info@onestepsoftware.com to set up a demo. You can also fill out the contact form below, and we will get in touch with you to set up a time to talk!