Is It Time for Clinicians to Routinely Track Patient Outcome? A Meta-Analysis.

TLDR

Empirically supported psychotherapies, guidelines, manuals, and patient‑focused research systems are proposed to enhance treatment outcomes, with systems monitoring and feeding back patient progress during psychotherapy. A meta‑analysis of three large studies indicates that formal monitoring of patient progress reduces deterioration by 4–8% and improves outcomes, suggesting clinicians should routinely track treatment response.

Abstract

Empirically supported psychotherapies, treatment guidelines, best practices, and treatment manuals are methods proposed to enhance treatment outcomes in routine practice. Patient-focused research systems provide a compatible and contrasting methodology. Such systems monitor and feed back information about a patient's progress during psychotherapy for the purpose of enhancing outcomes. A meta-analytic review of three large-scale studies is summarized and suggests that formally monitoring patient progress has a significant impact on clients who show a poor initial response to treatment. Implementation of this feedback system reduced deterioration by 4% to 8% and increased positive outcomes. Our interpretation of these results suggests that it may be time for clinicians routinely and formally to monitor patient treatment response.