Mental Health
Conditions
Keywords
collaborative care
Brief summary
This quality improvement project aims to help outpatient mental health teams, known as Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program (BHIP) teams, adopt more collaborative care practices (consistent with the collaborative chronic care model or CCM). The investigators therefore aim to use two different implementation strategies -- centralized technical assistance and implementation facilitation -- to align BHIP teams' care practices more closely with the principles of the CCM.
Detailed description
This quality improvement project aims to help outpatient mental health teams, known as Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program (BHIP) teams, adopt more collaborative care practices (consistent with the collaborative chronic care model or CCM). The investigators therefore aim to use two different implementation strategies -- centralized technical assistance and implementation facilitation -- to align BHIP teams' care practices more closely with the principles of the CCM. The two primary outcomes of this project are: 1. BHIP team collaboration, as evidenced by improved scores in the Role Clarity and Team Primacy dimensions of the Team Development Measure (TDM) 2. BHIP team clinical effectiveness, as evidenced by reduction in mental health hospitalizations among Veterans treated by the BHIP teams that have received the two types of implementation strategies described above.
Interventions
Implementation Facilitation involves and External Facilitator (from outside of the participating medical center) and an Internal Facilitator (from inside the participating medical center) working together to help BHIP teams within the site adopt care practices that are more consistent with the CCM
OTHERCentralized Technical Assistance
Centralized Technical Assistance involves having external experts available for ad hoc consultation related to collaborative BHIP care practices.
Sponsors
US Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention
VA Office of Research and Development
Study design
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Intervention model description
This study will use a stepped wedge design, with participating medical centers assigned to one of four different waves. Wave 1 will begin the trial receiving implementation facilitation. Waves 2-4 will begin the trial receiving centralized technical assistance, and will then cross over to implementation facilitation.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Note that treatment assignment will be at the facility level, and given the stepped wedge design, sites in Waves 2-4 will cross over from Centralized Technical Assistance to Implementation Facilitation. * At the provider level (for completing the TDM), the primary inclusion criterion is clinicians working on BHIP Teams at the participating medical centers. * At the patient level (for mental health hospitalizations, costs, and all-cause mortality), the primary inclusion criterion is Veterans treated by the BHIP teams at the participating medical centers. * Note that, for mental health hospitalizations, separate sites have been identified as comparators using a balancing algorithm.
Exclusion criteria
* Patients with a diagnosis of dementia in the electronic medical record.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Role Clarity and Team Primacy subdomains of the Team Development Measure (TDM) | Primary comparison will be between pre-implementation facilitation and post-implementation facilitation (8 months after the pre-implementation administration). | The TDM is a measure of team functioning, and the two listed subdomains represent the co-primary outcome for the study. Note that, due to the stepped wedge design, only Wave 3 and Wave 4 sites will also have a pre-centralized technical assistance administration of the TDM. Also note that the primary time frame for this outcome, as listed above, will be post-implementation facilitation (8 months after the pre-implementation administration). Secondary analysis will also investigate one year post-implementation facilitation (20 months after the pre-implementation administration). |
| Mental health hospitalization rate among Veterans treated within each BHIP team. | Primary comparison will be between pre-implementation facilitation and post-implementation facilitation (8 months after the pre-implementation administration). | Mental health hospitalizations represent a measure of clinical effectiveness (co-primary outcome for the study). Note that, due to the stepped wedge design, only Wave 3 and Wave 4 sites will also have a pre-centralized technical assistance calculation of the mental health hospitalization rate. Also note that the primary time frame for this outcome, as listed above, will be post-implementation facilitation (8 months after the pre-implementation administration). Secondary analysis will also investigate one year post-implementation facilitation (20 months after the pre-implementation administration). |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Treatment cost | Primary comparison will be between pre-implementation facilitation and post-implementation facilitation (8 months after the pre-implementation administration). | The investigators will calculate estimated treatment costs for Veterans treated by participating BHIP teams. Note that the primary time frame for this outcome, as listed above, will be post-implementation facilitation (8 months after the pre-implementation administration). Secondary analysis will also investigate one year post-implementation facilitation (20 months after the pre-implementation administration). |
| All-cause mortality | Primary comparison will be between pre-implementation facilitation and post-implementation facilitation (8 months after the pre-implementation administration). | The investigators will calculate all-cause mortality for Veterans treated by participating BHIP teams. Note that the primary time frame for this outcome, as listed above, will be post-implementation facilitation (8 months after the pre-implementation administration). Secondary analysis will also investigate one year post-implementation facilitation (20 months after the pre-implementation administration). |
| Treatment costs and hospitalization data compared to non-intervention sites | Post-facilitation (8 months after start of implementation facilitation) and post-sustainment (12 months after post-facilitation) | For mental health hospitalization and treatment costs, the investigators will compare results from intervention sites to other sites that did not undergo implementation facilitation (i.e. sites from outside the trial that are similar to intervention sites on variables like facility complexity and urban/rural location). |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed