Assessing Service Utilization

Valid assessment of the types and amount of treatment services utilized by people is important to those working in the field of outcome assessment. Yet few standardized measures exist. Here are some of the kinds of services which can be assessed in the field of psychiatry:

Inpatient Hospitalization

Partial Hospitalization

Residential Treatment

Important ways to quantify the above would include: how many hospitalizations were made, how much total time was spent in the facility and over what time frame did the hospitalizations occur. Other services which could be assessed include:

Individual Therapy

Family or Marital Therapy

Group Therapy

AA/NA

Other support groups

Medication Groups

Physician visits for psychiatric medication only

APRN or PA visits for psychiatric medication only

Other medical visits for non-psychiatric reasons

Vocational Rehabilitation

Psychotropic Medications Used

Rather than yes/no responses, determining the amount of service used over a given time period allows the researcher to quantify the data. (Others who wish to see the actual questionnaire can feel free to email me directly at edornel@harthosp.org).

Are there others who are trying to assess service utilization? We are finishing up a manuscript which used ordered logit (similar to probit) analysis to look at predictors of service utilization. I'm interested in responses from people who have had either successful efforts or hurdles which could not be overcome in measuring service utilization.

• Service Utilization by Elaine Kersten, 5/7/97
  • Ordered logit by Ellen Dornelas, 5/14/97
    • Using Service Utilization to Predict outcome by Elaine Kersten, 5/21/97
• Question about Service Utilization Assessment by Bob Talbot, 12/13/97