Evidence suggests that tracking treatment outcomes improves patients’ health and quality of life because it enables a psychologist to see how a patient’s treatment plan is working—and to adjust those therapies as needed. Now, to help psychologists and other behavioral health practitioners track patient outcomes, APA has developed the Mental and Behavioral Health Registryopens in new window, an electronic database that enables practitioners to enter encrypted data to track patients’ responses to treatment.
“The ability to track patient outcomes and adjust treatment is especially salient for patients at risk for prematurely dropping out of treatment due to a lack of progress or deterioration,” says APA Practice Director of Research and Special Projects Vaile Wright, PhD, who helped to develop the database.
APA also expects the registry will, over time, provide a wealth of de-identified data for researchers and clinical scientists to study psychotherapy outcomes, health disparities and therapist expertise.
And the database provides another critical benefit: It enables psychologists to document the value of their services. That’s become increasingly important with the new Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) launched by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2017, with psychologists being added to the program in 2019. MIPS rewards providers with larger payments when they track and show patient improvement on quality and clinical measures such as depression and anxiety screening scores. The system also penalizes providers who score the lowest in these areas by reducing payments.
So far, only a small number of psychologists must participate in MIPS: Those who treat more than 200 Medicare beneficiaries, bill Medicare for more than $90,000 in allowed charges and provide more than 200 covered professional services in a year. However, psychologists who meet at least one of these requirements can opt in to MIPS.
But that doesn’t mean psychologists should ignore the new system. Value-based initiatives related to behavioral and mental health care will likely become more common, says Wright. “The federal government is often the driver of change that trickles down to third-party and commercial payers, so while this might not affect you now, we really do think that quality improvement is here to stay. It’s important to be knowledgeable about these changes.”
For more information on accessing the Mental and Behavioral Health Registry, go to https://www.apaservices.org/practice/reimbursement/health-registry.
