Computer-assisted feedback-driven quality management for psychotherapy: The Stuttgart-Heidelberg Model.

Abstract

The authors present the Stuttgart-Heidelberg Model for quality management of psychotherapy. The system is characterized as an active internal approach with external support from researchers. Problem-solving activities are initiated and maintained by computer-assisted feedback on possible treatment shortcomings. The system provides support for the 3 key tasks of quality management: (a) monitoring of relevant quality criteria in the clinical routine, (b) standardized assessment that allows comparison with established standards at various levels of service provision, and (c) transfer of information on achieved quality to those whom it concerns. The central function of the system is an alarm function, signaling a possible deficit of the provided psychotherapy on the basis of the standard evaluation of treatment outcome for individual patients. In this article, the main system components are described and data on its feasibility and validity are presented.

The Exploration of the Effectiveness of Group Therapy through an Internet Chat as Aftercare: A Controlled Naturalistic Study

“…The two remaining indicators were dropout rate and session attendance. Outcome was assessed at discharge (compared to the health status at the beginning of treatment) and 12 months after discharge (also compared to the health status at the beginning of treatment) using data from the comprehensive set of self-report questionnaires of the Stuttgart-Heidelberg quality assurance program [22]. The following psychometric instruments are relevant for the analyses reported in this paper.…”

“…Controls were drawn from the set of patients who were treated in the hospital at the same time as the chat participants and took part in the routine quality assurance program of the hospital in which 40% of randomly selected patients undergo comprehensive assessments before and after the inpatient treatment as well as at 6 and 12 months’ follow-up [22]. The pool comprised 362 patients, out of which 114 were chosen as controls with the propensity score matching method, which has been proven effective in reducing selection bias in observational studies [23, 24].…”

Improving the effects of psychotherapy: The use of early identification of treatment and problem-solving strategies in routine practice.

“…This is a term that has precedence in other research aimed at improving the quality of client care (Kordy et al, 2001). In this report four acronyms are used to identify the four treatment conditions that were examined.…”

“…In a special section of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, quality assurance research programs in the United States (Beutler, 2001;Lambert, Hansen, & Finch, 2001;Lueger et al, 2001), Great Britain (Barkham et al, 2001), and Germany (Kordy, Hannöver, & Richard, 2001) were described. A common feature among each of these systems is an emphasis on patient-focused research.…”

Systematic Evaluation to Improve the Quality of Patient Care: From Hope to Hopeful

“…Examples of contributions to the knowledge base from accumulating clinical information are evident in private practice (e.g., Clement, 1999), clinics (e.g., Fonagy & Target, 1994), and research settings (e.g., Lambert, Hansen, & Finch, 2001;Lambert et al, 2003). Progress has been made in identifying measures that can be used in individual therapy, can be applied widely across clinical and service settings and clients, and can accumulate information that contributes to the knowledge base more generally (e.g., Barkham et al, 2001;Kordy, Hannöver, & Richard, 2001;Sperry, Brill, Howard, & Grissom, 1996). How unfortunate for patients and for our science to lose the opportunities afforded by systematic evaluation.…”