Measurement based care tools are devices that help a health practitioner collect data from a patient. They can include blood glucose monitors, pulse oximeters, patient monitoring equipment, and step counters.

Behavioral health practices can use measurement based care tools to track patients’ responses to treatment. This approach has been shown to improve outcomes and engagement.

In addition to enhancing patient and clinician communication, these tools can also provide valuable business intelligence information for the practice. Whether the goal is to better understand response times, increase staff efficiency, or optimize reimbursement, these tools can deliver the insight you need.

Rating scales are an important part of measurement-based care practices. They allow clinicians to see what patients are describing, which areas need further evaluation or testing, and how their symptoms are responding to therapy. This helps clinicians focus their attention and develop a more tailored plan for treatment.

When paired with other clinical workup tools, rating scales can guide the entire care team in their work with a patient. This can make the difference between a patient who doesn’t receive treatment at all or one that stays engaged with their treatment.

Valant’s Behavioral Health EHR is designed to make it easy for your practice to transition to measurement-based care. The software supports over 65 rating scales, making it a simple process for your team to automate outcome measures right in the EHR.

The software also helps your team share and manage data, giving them the flexibility to communicate with the patient as often as necessary. This gives them the freedom to talk about progress, deterioration and adjustment in their treatment plans, with ease and transparency.

Outcomes data is a crucial tool for behavioral health providers, and it can strengthen their relationship with physical health payers. This can attract more investment in the field and jumpstart a new era of innovation.

To achieve this, the practice must invest in quality EHR technology that is designed to support measurement-based care. It must include a library of outcome measures, be mobile-friendly, and generate reports on collected data.

This is especially important when your practice is already a high-volume provider, and it can make all the difference in a successful rollout. The right EHR can handle all of the automation, so your clinicians can focus on their patients, not on data entry.

In order to maximize your reimbursement, you need a comprehensive record of chargeable time with patients. This includes all of the time spent on a patient, whether that’s with them or doing paperwork. AeroScout can capture this and give you the critical information you need to optimize your revenue.

The 96127 code allows for the billing of outcome measures for mental health and substance use disorders, but there are still a number of barriers that behavioral health providers need to overcome in order to reap the benefits. For example, many payors haven’t fully implemented national policies on reimbursing for outcomes measurement. Additionally, many of these policies vary from geographical area to geographical area. This can mean providers are having to educate payors on the value of measurement-based care.