Background Little work investigates the effect of behavioral health system efforts to increase use of evidence-based practices or how organizational characteristics moderate the effect of these efforts. The objective of this study was to investigate clinician practice change in a system encouraging implementation of evidence-based practices over 5 years and how organizational characteristics moderate this effect. We hypothesized that evidence-based techniques would increase over time, whereas use of non-evidence-based techniques would remain static. Method Using a repeated cross-sectional design, data were collected three times from 2013 to 2017 in Philadelphia’s public behavioral health system. Clinicians from 20 behavioral health outpatient clinics serving youth were surveyed three times over 5 years ( n = 340; overall response rate = 60%). All organizations and clinicians were exposed to system-level support provided by the Evidence-based Practice Innovation Center from 2013 to 2017. Additionally, approximately half of the clinicians participated in city-funded evidence-based practice training initiatives. The main outcome included clinician self-reported use of cognitive-behavioral and psychodynamic techniques measured by the Therapy Procedures Checklist-Family Revised. Results Clinicians were 80% female and averaged 37.52 years of age ( SD = 11.40); there were no significant differences in clinician characteristics across waves (all p s > .05). Controlling for organizational and clinician covariates, average use of CBT techniques increased by 6% from wave 1 ( M = 3.18) to wave 3 ( M = 3.37, p = .021, d = .29), compared to no change in psychodynamic techniques ( p = .570). Each evidence-based practice training initiative in which clinicians participated predicted a 3% increase in CBT use ( p = .019) but no change in psychodynamic technique use ( p = .709). In organizations with more proficient cultures at baseline, clinicians exhibited greater increases in CBT use compared to organizations with less proficient cultures (8% increase vs. 2% decrease, p = .048). Conclusions System implementation of evidence-based practices is associated with modest changes in clinician practice; these effects are moderated by organizational characteristics. Findings identify preliminary targets to improve implementation.

Background In healthcare settings, system and organization leaders often control the selection and design of implementation strategies even though frontline workers may have the most intimate understanding of the care delivery process, and factors that optimize and constrain evidence-based practice implementation within the local system. Innovation tournaments, a structured participatory design strategy to crowdsource ideas, are a promising approach to participatory design that may increase the effectiveness of implementation strategies by involving end users (i.e., clinicians). We utilized a system-wide innovation tournament to garner ideas from clinicians about how to enhance the use of evidence-based practices (EBPs) within a large public behavioral health system. Methods Our innovation tournament occurred in three phases. First, we invited over 500 clinicians to share, through a web-based platform, their ideas regarding how their organizations could best support use of EBPs. Clinicians could rate and comment on ideas submitted by others. Second, submissions were judged by an expert panel (including behavioral scientists, system leaders, and payers) based on their rated enthusiasm for the idea. Third, we held a community-facing event during which the six clinicians who submitted winning ideas presented their strategies to 85 attendees representing a cross-section of clinicians and system and organizational leaders. Results We had a high rate of participation (12.3%), more than double the average rate of previous tournaments conducted in other settings (5%). A total of 65 ideas were submitted by 55 participants representing 38 organizations. The most common categories of ideas pertained to training (42%), financing and compensation (26%), clinician support and preparation tools (22%), and EBP-focused supervision (17%). The expert panel and clinicians differed on their ratings of the ideas, highlighting value of seeking input from multiple stakeholder groups when developing implementation strategies. Conclusions Innovation tournaments are a useful and feasible methodology for engaging end users, system leaders, and behavioral scientists through a structured approach to developing implementation strategies. The process and resultant strategies engendered significant enthusiasm and engagement from participants at all levels of a healthcare system. Research is needed to compare the effectiveness of strategies developed through innovation tournaments to strategies developed through design approaches.

Background Efficacious psychiatric treatments are not consistently deployed in community practice, and clinical outcomes are attenuated compared with those achieved in clinical trials. A major focus for mental health services research is to develop effective and cost-effective strategies that increase the use of evidence-based assessment, prevention, and treatment approaches in community settings. Objective The goal of this program of research is to apply insights from behavioral economics and participatory design to advance the science and practice of implementing evidence-based practice (EBP) for individuals with psychiatric disorders across the life span. Methods Project 1 (Assisting Depressed Adults in Primary care Treatment [ADAPT]) is patient-focused and leverages decision-making heuristics to compare ways to incentivize adherence to antidepressant medications in the first 6 weeks of treatment among adults newly diagnosed with depression. Project 2 (App for Strengthening Services In Specialized Therapeutic Support [ASSISTS]) is provider-focused and utilizes normative pressure and social status to increase data collection among community mental health workers treating children with autism. Project 3 (Motivating Outpatient Therapists to Implement: Valuing a Team Effort [MOTIVATE]) explores how participatory design can be used to design organizational-level implementation strategies to increase clinician use of EBPs. The projects are supported by a Methods Core that provides expertise in implementation science, behavioral economics, participatory design, measurement, and associated statistical approaches. Results Enrollment for project ADAPT started in 2018; results are expected in 2020. Enrollment for project ASSISTS will begin in 2019; results are expected in 2021. Enrollment for project MOTIVATE started in 2018; results are expected in 2019. Data collection had begun for ADAPT and MOTIVATE when this protocol was submitted. Conclusions This research will advance the science of implementation through efforts to improve implementation strategy design, measurement, and statistical methods. First, we will test and refine approaches to collaboratively design implementation strategies with stakeholders (eg, discrete choice experiments and innovation tournaments). Second, we will refine the measurement of mechanisms related to heuristics used in decision making. Third, we will develop new ways to test mechanisms in multilevel implementation trials. This trifecta, coupled with findings from our 3 exploratory projects, will lead to improvements in our knowledge of what causes successful implementation, what variables moderate and mediate the effects of those causal factors, and how best to leverage this knowledge to increase the quality of care for people with psychiatric disorders. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03441399; https://www.clinicaltrials...

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Background: Managed problem solving (MAPS) is an evidencebased intervention that can boost HIV medication adherence and increase viral suppression, but it is not widely used in community clinics. Deploying community health workers to deliver MAPS could facilitate broader implementation, in support of the Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) initiative's goal of reducing new HIV infections in the US by 90% by 2030.Setting: Ryan White-funded clinics in Philadelphia, 1 of 48 US counties prioritized in the EHE.Methods: Semistructured stakeholder interviews were conducted with 13 clinics and 4 stakeholder groups: prescribing clinicians, nonprescribing clinical team members (eg, medical case managers), clinic administrators, and policymakers. Interviews were based on the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research and investigated perceived barriers to and facilitators of MAPS delivery by community health workers. Rapid qualitative analytic techniques were used to synthesize interview data and identify key categories along an implementation pathway. Core determinants (ie, barriers and facilitators) of MAPS implementation were grouped within each category.Results: Stakeholders were receptive to CHW-delivered MAPS and offered critical information on potential implementation determinants including preferences for identification and referral of patients, and the importance of integration and communication within the care team.Conclusions: This study elucidates insights regarding barriers and facilitators to delivering an evidence-based behavioral intervention in clinics serving people with HIV (PWH) and extends a rapid qualitative approach to HIV care that rigorously incorporates stakeholder data into the development of implementation strategies. It also offers insights for national implementation efforts associated with EHE.