Collecting and interpreting outcome data is becoming more and more important as the addiction treatment community prepares for the inevitable payer transition from fee-for-service reimbursements to value based care. 

Anecdotal evidence of addiction treatment success is simply no longer enough to convince payers, referral partners or potential patients of the merits of your program. Too many organizations in the addiction treatment community have over-promised and under-performed for too long, resulting in a trust gap between providers and patients. 

We’ve said it many times on this blog: Any behavioral health organization that is not collecting outcome data - and doing everything they can to make that data reflect the quality of care provided - is setting themselves up for catastrophic failure in the coming value based care revolution. If you can’t prove that your program works, then for all intents and purposes, it doesn’t work at all. 

You’ve probably heard that there are many different ways to boost outcome data. Some usual suspects include: 

• Actually collecting data in the first place 

• Encouraging patients to engage with easy touch points like alumni portals

• Investing in continuous monitoring of alumni 

• Defining “treatment success” in a variety of ways

But what if we told you that your outcome data actually hinges on one, vitally important and often overlooked thing? 

The Secret to Excellent Outcome Data Isn’t Found in a Techy Metric 

At Behave Health, we’re big believers in the power of smart tech for behavioral health providers. While the right EMR can revolutionize your addiction treatment organization’s quality of care and profitability, smart tech is not actually the secret ingredient to outcome data success that we want to talk about today. 

No - study after study shows that it’s the quality of your clinicians that largely determines the quality of your outcome data. The strength of the therapeutic alliance that forms between patient and provider plays the largest role in predicting the outcome of addiction treatment. 

Not only does a strong therapeutic alliance lead to better follow-up outcomes, and lower patient distress while in treatment, it also helps retain patients in treatment longer! Longer episodes of care translate into more revenue for your organization as well as improved patient outcomes.  

The Contextual Model Explains Why Therapeutic Alliances Boost Addiction Treatment Outcome Data

The therapeutic alliance between provider and patient in an addiction treatment setting is difficult to quantify. Still, that doesn’t stop researchers and other innovators from trying. The contextual model in psychology attempts to explain how healing and rehabilitation for specific conditions occurs within a social setting or context. By examining the quality of the therapeutic alliance and the outcomes of specific interventions based in socially driven therapeutic interactions, the contextual model seeks to tease out the most successful approaches to addiction treatment therapy sessions. 

Studies based on the contextual model approach have found that “greater service intensity and quality” are both associated with patient retention and program completion. These factors - longer treatment episodes and/or actually completing a treatment program - are, in turn, key drivers behind positive follow-up outcomes. 

Common Stumbling Blocks to a Therapeutic Alliance Between Patients and Addiction Treatment Providers 

While all addiction treatment providers seek to form effective therapeutic alliances to an extent with their patients, some are better than others at making strong patient relationships a reality. 

Some common stumbling blocks to building a rock solid therapeutic alliance in addiction treatment settings include:

• Inexperienced staff who need more training and/or mentorship

• Insecure attachment (in the provider, the patient, or both)

• Privacy and HIPAA concerns, trust issues 

• Cultural fit issues (barriers to optimal provider-patient communication and understanding that center around important identity categories such as race, gender, religion, sexuality, age, nationality, etc) 

• Language barrier 

• Provider burnout 

• The double empathy problem often present in the interactions between neurodivergent and neurotypical neurotypes

• Inefficient workflows that overburden clinicians with administrative work and take away time and energy from patient-facing work

Three Things You Can Do to Leverage the Therapeutic Alliance in Your Addiction Treatment Program to Boost Outcome Data

1 - Focus on quality new hires. Although we’re struggling with a staffing crisis in the addiction treatment community, it’s still important to focus on the quality of your new hires. Adequate clinical experience, a proven track record of integrity, and demonstrated emotional intelligence will go a long way to ensuring that your new hires will drive positive results at your program. 

2 - Identify your top performers and do what you can to ensure that they stay with your organization. Between provider burnout and the allure of other professional opportunities, it can be very difficult to retain top performers in the addiction treatment community. Expect outsized attrition among your staff without a solid retention plan in place. Reward top performers with lower caseloads, higher pay, clear paths for advancement, professional development opportunities and other job perks. Involve your top performers in higher level decision-making whenever possible to give them a sense of buy-in at your organization. 

3 - Invest in the tech your organization needs to reduce the administrative burden on clinicians. No addiction treatment professional chose this career because they enjoy tedious computer work. Inefficient workflows around every day tasks like SOAP notes, group notes, treatment planning, med pass, and patient scheduling contribute to an overall workplace atmosphere of frustration and despair. Unlike many of the challenges inherent in providing behavioral healthcare, this one is completely avoidable. If your organization isn’t providing your clinicians with the tools they need to get their job done, then they will leave and find an organization that is willing to invest in their success. 

Need to Get a Handle on Your Addiction Treatment Organization’s Outcome Data? Behave Health can help.

Behave Health is committed to making it easier - and more profitable - to operate evidence-based, results-focused addiction treatment centers.

Our all-in-one app puts RCM, clinical, administration, staff, admissions, alumni, residents, treatment plans, insurance authorizations and more - all at your fingertips.

Get your free trial started today and see why more addiction treatment centers prefer Behave Health.

PS. Just getting started with behavioral health? Need help with certification, too? Behave Health can also help direct you to the right resources for help with Licensing or Accreditation by either The Joint Commission or CARF. Mention to your product specialist that you’re interested in this service after you start your free trial!