Advancing Measure-Informed Care in Mental Health

Interest in embedding measurement into mental health care is increasing, giving rise to practices closely related to measurement-based care. Measurement-based care involves systematic and routine assessment of the patient’s symptoms throughout the course of mental health treatment.

Measure-informed care, another avenue for practices to integrate measurement, focuses less on protocols and more on using the best available evidence like leveraging standardized measures to track symptomatology and treatment progress. While measurement-based care has a more robust evidence base, measure-informed care is a newer, innovative practice with potential to address some of the patient- and clinician-driven barriers to implementing measurement-based care.

This IHI Innovation Report describes a project that aimed to understand how practices can improve the adoption of measurement-based and measure-informed strategies in mental health care, within their infrastructure and workforce constraints. While this work began with a focus on health care clinics more broadly, after research and stakeholder interviews, it was narrowed to focus on community mental health centers.

How to Cite This Document: 
Laderman M, Miller BF, Sampath B, Anderson A. Advancing Measure-Informed Care in Mental Health. Boston: Institute for Healthcare Improvement; 2024. (Available at ihi.org)