Technology to the Rescue: Real-Time Information Helps Physicians Make the Mind/Body Connection

Physicians are becoming increasingly aware of the interrelationship between mind and body in caring for their patients. They are recognizing the importance of identifying psychological factors that may affect a patient’s response to treatment. Early detection of such issues can help ensure effective treatment planning, improve the productivity of the physician’s practice, and save long-term costs.

However, medical caregivers often face the question of how to integrate behavioral assessments efficiently and effectively into their practices. Many paper-and-pencil assessments are time-consuming for patients to complete, require hard-to-find physician and staff time and, because most assessments cannot be immediately scored, they do not provide the most up-to-date information on the patient.

Real-time administration for leading assessments

In response to these concerns, we are working with Patient Tools, Inc. to make several of our well-respected, medically oriented psychological assessments available for administration on a hand-held, portable survey unit. Leveraging the latest technology, this screening approach offers medical practitioners onsite, real-time access to critical information about their patients’ psychological issues.

Here’s how the system works: The hand-held electronic survey units come with our screening assessments pre-loaded. The method requires minimal staff training and administrative time. Patients complete the assessment at the time of their visit on a large, easy-to-read display; on-screen instructions guide them step-by-step through the process. Then, with the use of a small docking station connected to the user’s PC, the data is downloaded from the survey unit and can be integrated through the Internet into the practitioner’s secure remote database housed on Patient Tools servers. Patient Tools maintains computer security across the Internet (using 128-bit encryption, locked-down servers, and digital certificates) that meets the current data security requirements for HIPAA compliance.

Within seconds, a complete report including graphs, mean scores, percentages, interpretive statements, and other features is printed. Thus, the physician receives up-to-the-minute information that pinpoints potential behavioral health issues—information that can be used immediately to initiate valuable discussion with the patient. In addition, the caregiver is able to track outcomes easily over time by running trended reports automatically.

BBHI™ 2 assessment now available on portable survey unit

The BBHI" 2 (Brief Battery for Health Improvement 2) instrument, a brief screener designed with physicians in mind that is appropriate for use with rehabilitation and chronic pain patients, is now available with hand-held survey unit administration.

Denver Pain Management, a leader in the treatment and relief of patients with chronic spinal pain, uses hand-held survey units to administer the BBHI 2 test to clinic patients as well as to individuals participating in clinical trials. The clinic reports that both patients and staff have appreciated the benefits of this easy-to-use system. In particular, they note that this method usually takes less of the patient’s time than a paper-and-pencil format and does not require staff time to enter the patient’s responses for scoring.¹

Expanding on the solution

In addition to the BBHI 2 instrument, we currently offers hand-held survey unit administration for another brief, medically oriented psychological assessment, the BSI^® 18 (Brief Symptom Inventory 18) test. This well-respected screener is well-suited for evaluating general medical and oncology patients. In the near future, we also will offer hand-held survey unit administration for the P-3^® (Pain Patient Profile) assessment, which helps screen for factors most frequently associated with chronic pain.

If you have questions, contact Kelly Robbins at (888) 627-7271.

¹See “Denver Pain Management Forges New Frontier in Treatment of Chronic Spinal Pain,” Bridging the Gap, Fall 2002.

To request a print copy of this article and the complete newsletter, please call 1-888-627-7271 and reference F12W03.

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