Polaris Launches New Version of Its Adult Mental Health Outcomes System
Polaris has rolled out the next version of Polaris-MH, which includes a number of enhancements to help providers deliver better care at lower costs, and will complement the system’s current ability to identify strength and problem areas and determine the best course of treatment.
Langhorne, PA, December 02, 2010 --(PR.com)-- Polaris Health Directions has released the next version of Polaris-MH, an innovative computer-based outcomes management system for adult mental health. The features available in the new release provide unique, evidence-based decision support to help providers improve treatment outcomes while averting costs associated with ineffective care.
The rollout of the new version will be completed by the end of the year at Kaiser Permanente and the Canadian Department of National Defense.
“We are very pleased to offer a number of enhancements to Polaris-MH that will help providers deliver better care at lower costs, and will complement the system’s current ability to identify strength and problem areas and determine the best course of treatment,” said Dr. Grant Grissom, president of Polaris. “These new features reflect our commitment to offer practical, research-informed assessments that address the needs of our customers.”
The upgraded Polaris-MH offers four new capabilities that set it apart from other mental health assessments on the market. On patient intake and update assessment reports Polaris has added an Expected Treatment Response graph that shows a patient’s progress when compared to other patients with similar mental health and treatment history, symptom severity and strengths. It answers for therapists: Is this treatment working for this patient?
To address the high rates of people with both psychological and addictive disorders who seek treatment, scales from the widely used Addiction Severity Index have been incorporated to screen for and assess the severity of substance abuse. The scores are presented as a percentile based on norms for more than 10,000 patients in chemical dependency treatment.
Polaris has introduced a resilience scale based upon norms for more than 4,000 mental health outpatients. This indicator helps a therapist determine a patient’s ability to “bounce back” and emphasizes that strengths can be as significant to a patient’s recovery as problem areas. Finally, the enhanced system includes an inconsistency index score, which alerts therapists when patients’ responses are inconsistent, and potentially unreliable.
Other additions include a French language version of the assessment (a Spanish option is available, too), and a brief fax-based assessment option for situations where a computer is not accessible.
For more information on Polaris-MH, visit http://www.polarishealth.com/solutions/MH/mental_health.html or send an e-mail to moreinfo@polarishealth.com.
About Polaris Health Directions
At Polaris, we recognize that organizations cannot manage what they do not measure. Many behavioral health care providers and payers may not be collecting and analyzing enough of the right data to answer basic questions about the cost-effectiveness of the care they offer. Polaris's advanced technology and science driven assessment systems are designed to capture the clinical data essential to quality improvement and enhanced organizational management. Polaris solutions provide advanced analytics to help you improve and demonstrate to your customers the value of your care. With a focus on prediction, Polaris solutions do more than describe clinical change. Our systems also indicate if treatment is likely to have a positive result. Helping you make better decisions in the present by anticipating the future will be the difference in reducing your costs while improving patient care.
###
The rollout of the new version will be completed by the end of the year at Kaiser Permanente and the Canadian Department of National Defense.
“We are very pleased to offer a number of enhancements to Polaris-MH that will help providers deliver better care at lower costs, and will complement the system’s current ability to identify strength and problem areas and determine the best course of treatment,” said Dr. Grant Grissom, president of Polaris. “These new features reflect our commitment to offer practical, research-informed assessments that address the needs of our customers.”
The upgraded Polaris-MH offers four new capabilities that set it apart from other mental health assessments on the market. On patient intake and update assessment reports Polaris has added an Expected Treatment Response graph that shows a patient’s progress when compared to other patients with similar mental health and treatment history, symptom severity and strengths. It answers for therapists: Is this treatment working for this patient?
To address the high rates of people with both psychological and addictive disorders who seek treatment, scales from the widely used Addiction Severity Index have been incorporated to screen for and assess the severity of substance abuse. The scores are presented as a percentile based on norms for more than 10,000 patients in chemical dependency treatment.
Polaris has introduced a resilience scale based upon norms for more than 4,000 mental health outpatients. This indicator helps a therapist determine a patient’s ability to “bounce back” and emphasizes that strengths can be as significant to a patient’s recovery as problem areas. Finally, the enhanced system includes an inconsistency index score, which alerts therapists when patients’ responses are inconsistent, and potentially unreliable.
Other additions include a French language version of the assessment (a Spanish option is available, too), and a brief fax-based assessment option for situations where a computer is not accessible.
For more information on Polaris-MH, visit http://www.polarishealth.com/solutions/MH/mental_health.html or send an e-mail to moreinfo@polarishealth.com.
About Polaris Health Directions
At Polaris, we recognize that organizations cannot manage what they do not measure. Many behavioral health care providers and payers may not be collecting and analyzing enough of the right data to answer basic questions about the cost-effectiveness of the care they offer. Polaris's advanced technology and science driven assessment systems are designed to capture the clinical data essential to quality improvement and enhanced organizational management. Polaris solutions provide advanced analytics to help you improve and demonstrate to your customers the value of your care. With a focus on prediction, Polaris solutions do more than describe clinical change. Our systems also indicate if treatment is likely to have a positive result. Helping you make better decisions in the present by anticipating the future will be the difference in reducing your costs while improving patient care.
###
Contact
Polaris Health Directions
Dr. Grant Grissom
215.359.3901
www.polarishealth.com
Dr. Grant Grissom
215.359.3901
www.polarishealth.com
Contact
Categories