Beyond the Therapist’s Office: Merging Measurement-Based Care and Digital Medicine in the Real World

Abstract

This viewpoint focuses on the ways in which digital medicine and measurement-based care can be utilized in tandem to promote better assessment, patient engagement, and an improved quality of psychiatric care. To date, there has been an underutilization of digital measurement in psychiatry, and there is little discussion of the feedback and patient engagement process in digital medicine. Measurement-based care is a recognized evidence-based strategy that engages patients in an understanding of their outcome data. When implemented as designed, providers review the scores and trends in outcome immediately and then provide feedback to their patients. However, the process is typically confined to office visits, which does not provide a complete picture of a patient’s progress and functioning. The process is labor intensive, even with digital feedback systems, but the integration of passive metrics obtained through wearables and apps can supplement office-based observations. This enhanced measurement-based care process can provide a picture of real-world patient functioning through passive metrics (activity, sleep, etc.). This can potentially engage patients more in their health data and involve a critically needed therapeutic alliance component in digital medicine.

The Pain Intervention & Digital Research Program: an operational report on combining digital research with outpatient chronic disease management

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Utilizing digital predictive biomarkers to identify Veteran suicide risk

“…As the medical world further navigates the evolution of digital medicine technologies, Torous et al posits that mobile technology can aid in the early detection and reduction of suicide and reduction of suicide rates ( 33 ). Through the use of digital medicine technologies designed for tracking changes in mood, stress, anxiety, meditation, and coping, digital biomarkers can shed light on the overall health of an individual ( 34 , 35 ). Utilizing smart phones, wearable technologies, and applications, healthcare providers can more strategically monitor these digital biomarkers for the early signs of depression, suicidal thoughts, and suicidal risk ( 34 , 36 ).…”