The use of patient-reported outcome measures in psychiatric practices in the United States is still in its beginning phases. More research is need to determine the usefulness of such measures and the optimal methods to present them to patients and practitioners in routine care settings.

This presentation will describe the research plan for testing a group of patient-reported outcome measures using digital applications. Potential opportunities for use in underserved refugee populations will be presented.

The outcome measures were selected from those recommended in DSM-5 Section III, including cross-cutting symptom and disability measures. A user-friendly digital application was developed for data collection, synthesis, and presentation. The research plan has three phases: focus groups with patients and clinicians, piloting of methods, and the main study, a pragmatic trial comparing treatment outcomes using outcome measurement versus usual care.

Results of the focus group sessions will be presented, along with changes made to the measures and the digital application in response to these results. Current status of the research project will be discussed.

The results of this research project will bring greater clarity to questions on the role of outcome measurements in improving quality of care and patient outcomes. With ever greater use of smart phones, tablets, and personal computers, digital technology has the potential to facilitate psychiatric assessment and treatment for underserved, difficult-to-reach populations such as refugees.