Re: Hospital Outcomes Evaluation

• Topics in Outcome Assessment by Ellen A. Dornelas, Ph.D., 9/24/96
  • A Hospital Wide Outcome Evaluation by Ellen Dornelas, 1/17/97
    
    

I am very interested in following the development of your longitudinal study, as I believe that there are similarities between yours and the one being conducted in Western Mass. Yours tracks clients during hospital admissions and forward. Ours looks at clients during community treatment and onward. An area that is intersting to me, and a real measurement challenge, is the extent to which the effects of ancillary services can be assessed, recognized and understood. (and isolated/partialed out?)Are you collecting data on the amount and duration of services received by clients beyond the immediate clinical context (e.g. - are you measuring ancillary services of those patients who, once admitted, continue to receive psychotherapy from an external therapist, or meet regularly with referral source program staff?) The ancillary service may be a moderator to the clinical outcomes that are not associated directly with the immediate treating environment.

I am interested in your response, as I have attempted to deal with this in our assessments, and wondered about your approach - at least in terms of the data collection.

• Assessing Aftercare by Ellen Dornelas, 2/6/97