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  • Research & Results
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  • Matching Patients' Mental Health...

Matching Patients' Mental Health Needs with Providers' Strengths

Sign Up for Updates to This Study  

Project Summary  

This research project is in progress. PCORI will post the research findings on this page within 90 days after the results are final.

What is the research about?

About one in six Americans lives with anxiety, depression, substance use disorder, schizophrenia, or some other mental health condition. Mental health care providers can help patients manage some conditions and recover from others.

However, not all mental health care providers are skilled in treating all kinds of mental health conditions. Further, when patients need mental health care, doctors often refer them to providers by chance or convenience. The research team wants to compare improvement rates for patients matched with a mental health care provider who has established effectiveness at treating the patients’ specific needs with improvement rates for patients matched to a mental health care provider by chance.

Who can this research help?

Results from this study can help health system administrators decide whether to track mental health care providers’ results in treating different conditions and use that information to match patients and providers.

What is the research team doing?

The research team is working with a network of community mental health care providers. The team is inviting 264 patients who have referrals for mental health care to join the study. All patients in the study are completing an initial diagnostic interview and a survey about their mental health needs. The survey includes questions about symptoms, relationships, suicide risk, sleep, substance use, and other topics. Patients then receive a referral to a mental health care provider in one of two ways:

  • For one group of patients, an intake worker assigns a mental health care provider by chance, based on usual considerations like provider availability, schedule, or the provider’s self-reported specialty.
  • For the second group of patients, a computer matches each patient’s survey results with records about mental health care providers’ skill in treating that patient’s most severe condition. The computer the assigns the patient to a provider whose other patients with that condition improved over time.

The research team is following patients until they stop seeing the mental health care provider or through four months of treatment. Patients complete the same mental health survey that informed matching several times throughout their treatment and at their final sessions or fourth month. At the final time point, patients also report their satisfaction with their treatments. The research team is also collecting interview-based diagnostic information before and after treatment. The team is comparing how patients’ outcomes change in each group.

The research team is working with a project advisory board that includes mental health care patients, providers, and administrators.

Research methods at a glance

Design Elements Description
Design Randomized controlled trial
Population Adults ages 18–65 referred to behavioral health care
Interventions/
Comparators
  • Random assignment to mental health care provider as usual
  • Random assignment to mental health care provider based on algorithm matching patients’ needs and providers’ effectiveness across 12 behavioral health domains
Outcomes

Primary: Treatment Outcome Package (TOP) measure of symptom and functional domains

Secondary: Symptom Checklist-10, Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-32, Working Alliance Inventory, Credibility/Expectancy Scale, TOP Satisfaction Scale

Timeframe 16-week follow-up for primary outcome; 12-month follow-up for a subsample of patients

Journal Articles

Related Articles

Administration and Policy In Mental Health

Harnessing the Therapist Effect in Patient-Centered Mental Health Care Decision Making

Project Details

Principal Investigator
Michael Constantino, PhD
Project Status
In PCORI Peer-Review Process
Project Title
Enhancing Mental Health Care by Scientifically Matching Patients to Providers’ Strengths
Board Approval Date
September 2015
Project End Date
December 2020
Organization
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Year Awarded
2015
State
Massachusetts
Project Type
Research Project
Health Conditions  
Mental/Behavioral Health
Anxiety
Addiction/Substance Abuse
Bipolar Disorder
Depression
Eating and Feeding Disorders
Schizophrenia and Psychotic Disorders
Intervention Strategies
Care Coordination
Populations
Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Women
Funding Announcement
Improving Healthcare Systems
Project Budget
$1,784,650
Study Registration Information
HSRP20162152
NCT02990000
Page Last Updated: 
July 24, 2020

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Meetings & Events

February 2
PCORI 2021 and Beyond: Opportunities for Funding and Involvement in Patient-Centered Research
February 9
Board of Governors Meeting: February 9, 2021
February 11
Advisory Panel on Patient Engagement Winter 2021 Meeting

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Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 827-7700 | Fax: (202) 355-9558
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