New digital training program improves psychiatric care

A team of Carilion researchers, led by Anita Kablinger, MD, vice chair for research, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, developed and studied the effectiveness of a standardized, online training program to help psychiatrists more consistently interpret the results of questionnaires that track patient symptoms. 

Known as Measurement-based Care Training for Resilient Implementation in a Clinical Setting or METRIC, the program combines educational videos, patient simulations, guidance on interpreting symptom measures, and practical strategies for handling common clinical situations. 

A pilot program among clinicians and patients in our adult psychiatric outpatient practices found it to be an effective way to educate clinicians and support the long-term use of measurement-based care in outpatient psychiatry. 

"This work represents an important step toward making evidence-based measurement practices more sustainable in everyday clinical care," said Dr. Kablinger, senior author of the study. "As health care continues to embrace digital learning tools, programs like METRIC have the potential to improve consistency while supporting both clinicians and patients."

Their work was published in Implementation and Research Practice.

In addition to Dr. Kablinger, the research team included Robert Mcnamara, PhD; Virginia O’Brien, MD; Ashlie Phenes, a mental health therapist; and Hunter Sharp, a biostatistician, of Carilion Clinic; Sydney Jones, graduate student, and Lee Cooper, PhD, retired psychology professor with Virginia Tech; Alyssa Gatto, PhD, of the University of Colorado; and Hayoung Ko, PhD, of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.