Automated evaluation of goal-attainment ratings.

At the Fort Logan Mental Center in Denver, an automated system for evaluating treatment effectiveness is based on a goal-attainment approach. Patients, staff, and patients' relatives or friends specify treatment goals from a standardized list of 703 goal statements. They rate the importance of each goal at the time it is set, and later rate the degree of goal attainment. The authors describe uses of the system and emphasize its value in obtaining information during treatment that can help improve the treatment process.