In it for the long haul: the integration of outcomes assessment, clinical services, and management decision-making.

Behavioral health providers are increasingly called upon to develop outcomes strategies that highlight opportunities for performance improvement and assess in turn the impact of applying total quality management (TQM) principles to treatment outcomes. This article describes the evolution of an outcomes assessment program at a private psychiatric facility, and presents two case studies of the integration of outcomes data into clinical decision-making. In Study I, outcomes data were used to identify patterns in the responsiveness to treatment of child/adolescent patients with behavioral disorders and document changes in improvement rates following the application of continuous quality improvement (CQI) principles within the inpatient services. In Study II, improvements sought in the outcomes methodology resulted in improved response rates, improved data quality, and new opportunities for both clinical intervention and staff development. Benefits of committing to outcomes assessment over the long haul to facilitate empirically driven planning processes are described.