Measurement-Based Care, AI Have Treatment Center Leaders’ Attention Heading Into 2024

As treatment center executives continue to refine their operations, expect measurement-based care initiatives and artificial intelligence are 2 key technology-centric to garner significant attention heading into 2024, says Catherine McCarver, chief operating officer at OneFifteen, a Verily-backed addiction treatment program in Dayton, Ohio.

At the recent Treatment Center Investment & Valuation Retreat West in Scottsdale, Arizona, McCarver shared a tech- and data-focused outlook for behavioral healthcare leaders. Shortly after McCarver’s presentation, Behavioral Healthcare Executive caught up with her to discuss emerging trends in the field, how treatment centers can leverage technology to improve their operations and clinical care, and common pain points when implementing new tech tools that providers should be aware of.

Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Behavioral Healthcare Executive: What are some of the biggest emerging technology and data trends that treatment center operators should have on their radar heading into 2024?

Catherine McCarver: There are probably 2 big things that I saw. One was the ongoing interest and development around measurement-informed care and evidence-based care. This industry definitely is embracing that concept more fully, and it's making its way into both the technology offerings and electronic health records (EHRs) that are out there. That includes the incorporation of a measurement system and an ongoing evaluation of our work that incorporates the needs requirements of the patient, as well as testing all of our interventions.

Another big component is making sure that we're constantly publishing what we're doing and sharing that broadly, making sure the technology is supporting us more and more to do that. Some of that is through the EHRs, and some of it is through independent apps and other technology that's available.

BHE: In ways can treatment centers be using technology and data to improve things on the operational side of their organization?

CM: Artificial intelligence (AI) was a really big theme in this year's Treatment Center Investment & Valuation Retreat. I don't think there was a single presenter who didn't say “AI” at some point, whether their talk was about it or not.

Again, that’s across integrations with EHRs, marketing and engagement with patients, clinical documentation and clinical efficiency, revenue cycle management, and back-office processing. We're seeing it across the board. We saw it in labs and drug testing tools that are sort of harvesting those results. We’re really seeing that across everything.

There are a couple ways operators use this. One, I think, is about maintaining awareness of what's going on in the market and evaluating tools to determine if they're a good fit for your organization based on whether they have data and proven outcomes for the technology that they're bringing forward, and that they are at a price point that's effective. But really being able to evaluate these tools and plug them into our systems is really the main way that I would suggest doing that. Again, EHRs are starting to be a conduit for consolidating and harnessing each of these different, technologies. I think that's going to continue to be the case.

I would say too, for operators to work with your EHR companies to help them prioritize what to engage in their systems, what to align with their systems, or what to build in to make all of this simple for the treatment center leaders. A lot of it is going to be around adopting a culture around automation and beginning to build some muscle around evaluating it and adopting it in your organization.

BHE: Are there any common mistakes or particular pain points with implementing these tools that treatment centers should be cognizant of as they look to implement this technology?

CM: I'd probably start with engagement. That is something to be focused on as you're engaging with tools to make sure that the audience they're intended for—the patients, the care team—are supportive of this technology, they understand how it's going to work in their workflow, and it’s going to make their work simpler and easier to foster engagement.

There are cool tools out there, but you want to make sure that they are going to be impactful for the audience that you're looking at.

And with regards to outcomes, ensure you have ways to measure the effectiveness of a particular tool or system that you're using and whether you can prove that it's better than your previous tool so you can continue to refine and improve your operations.

BHE: That ties into the clinical side as well. Do you have any examples you can cite with regards to how clinical treatment outcomes are being improved, through the use of automated processes and AI, and some of this other technology that you’ve referenced?

CM: The best example I would start with is some of the software that we're using at OneFifteen related to measurement-informed care and bringing together all of the patient-reported outcomes that are being collected through screening and in the course of care to consolidate a picture for the care advocate team, your paraprofessionals, as well as your clinicians around what the priorities for that patient are. Consolidating information helps the team prioritize, make decisions, and focus interventions a lot faster. You also see a lot of automation of clinical documentation and other things, but probably the ones that best supports care outcomes are the ones that are focused on that engagement of the patient and making sure they're staying in treatment over course of time and helping the care team tune their interventions and test their interventions for effectiveness with the patients.

BHE: Was there anything else you would like to cover that we have not yet discussed?

CM: A big challenge right now is the provider shortage or the imbalance between the demand, for behavioral healthcare and substance use disorder treatment and available resources. That’s one way that these technologies can support these organizations. Not just reducing burnout—the mental burden, the administrative burden—that is impacting care teams, but also making sure that it is supporting them in their work, and making their work less taxing, more efficient and more effective.

I want to make sure that we make that connection. That’s really the key to adoption as well. If practitioners see the value, and they see that reduction of energy spent, then adoption rates will be high. The effectiveness of that of that system will be high.

Reference

McCarver C. Technology and data outlook. Presented at Treatment Center Investment & Valuation Retreat West. November 27-29, 2023; Scottsdale, Arizona.