Our objective is the further development of COMPASS, an outpatient mental health tracking system to monitor the progress of psychotherapy. COMPASS consists of (l) a measurement battery providing for patient self-report and clinician ratings; (2) procedures for collecting these data at specific intervals during treatment; (3) analytic procedures and a normative database to compare an individual's progress with that of similar patients; and (4) software to scan raw data forms and generate reports on the status and progress of individual cases, and performance of provider networks. COMPASS is needed by managed care providers to maintain quality of care standards in the face of cost containment pressures. It is useful to clinicians and supervisors, utilization review (UR) specialists, and managed care networks. It can objectively monitor case progress, inform UR decision-making and improve the costs-effectiveness of managed networks. A COMPASS prototype was evaluated during Phase I. During Phase II objectives are to extend the range of COMPASS to include use with psychotic patients; provide for pharmacotherapy tracking; add validity (""""""""fake"""""""") scales; extend automated reporting capabilities; expand delivery platforms (Spanish version, multimedia, remote use including stand alone PC and licensing, enhanced user training); and establish normative and decision making algorithms.
The market for COMPASS is any firm which monitors mental health treatment: e.g. EAPs, HMOs, PPOs, insurance companies, self-insured corporations, managed care providers. The COMPASS has application in clinical supervision, utilization review and enhancement of the cost-effectiveness of provider networks.
