Interactive voice response (IVR) technology has the potential to improve the quality and efficiency of mental health screening and outcomes assessment. Medassure proposes to build and test a standardized and affordable IVR system and to evaluate both its acceptance among mental health patients in a bilingual context as well as its utility for clinicians. First, an IVR prototype will be built. It will be able to administer any combination of up to 6 questionnaires in English or Spanish and handle up to 24 telephone lines simultaneously. It will score questionnaires automatically, enter results into a standard relational data base, and fax results to clinicians. Second, the study will clinically test the IVR prototype among five English-and five Spanish-speaking patients at Sea Mar Counseling using the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), and provide focus groups to obtain patient feedback. Third, a sample of ninety patients will test the bilingual functioning and utility of the IVR system. A statistical comparison of IVR with written questionnaire administration will be made. Specific criteria have been selected to determine the reliability and validity, as well as the overall success of the project.
The IVR prototype developed through this research will have a number of commercial applications, including patient-centered outcomes assessment, mental health screening, disease management, and assisting in mental health research. Its principal markets will include hospitals, HMOs, employee assistance programs, Managed Behavioral Health Care Firms, and pharmaceutical research companies.
| Azocar, Francisca; Cuffel, Brian; McCulloch, Joyce et al. (2007) Monitoring patient improvement and treatment outcomes in managed behavioral health. J Healthc Qual 29:4-12 |
| Brodey, Benjamin B; Cuffel, Brian; McCulloch, Joyce et al. (2005) The acceptability and effectiveness of patient-reported assessments and feedback in a managed behavioral healthcare setting. Am J Manag Care 11:774-80 |
