G8 – Pay it Forward: Using Your EHR Data to Make Data-Based Decisions and Demonstrate the Value of Integrated Behavioral Health

Summary

The electronic health record (EHR) is ubiquitous in integrated behavioral health (IBH). Unbeknownst to many, usable data on many dimensions of IBH are already captured in the EHR as a part of routine care. This represents a largely untapped resource for improving data-based decision making in IBH and demonstrating the value of IBH services. Reasons for this disconnect include lack of additional knowledge and skill required to determine how to leverage EHR data for research and quality improvement purposes in IBH. This presentation will illustrate actionable strategies for the practicing clinician to conceptualize electronic phenotypes for EHR data and collaborate with Health Information Technology analysts and researchers at your institution. We will present for 5 minutes on foundational information in a didactic lecture to orient the participant to key concepts in secondary data analysis and electronic phenotypes. We will use 15 minutes to reinforce key concepts using a case example of a retrospective cohort study of a crisis evaluation service in a pediatric IBH setting compared with consults obtained in an emergency department within the same health system. By combining IBH program evaluation data on identified crisis cases with existing EHR data, we learned about key outcomes, including: a) a higher proportion of youth were hospitalized from the IBH service; b) the IBH service demonstrated shorter latency to the next behavioral health appointment; and c) there was higher proportion of IBH patients who engaged with any follow-up treatment in the year after the evaluation. Next, participants will engage in 20 minutes of exercises using a project conceptualization worksheet to develop operational, clinical, and financial indicators available in the EHR, from data that easily captured manually by practitioners, or both. Ample time will remain for questions and illustration, and electronic handouts of these resource and a reading list will be provided.