Decide What to Track and How
With who, what, when, where, and why all squared away. You have one more thing to lock down. “To what effect?” That is, how will you know you are making progress? By sense of feel? No, that’s bad. You need metrics!
What to track?
We would suggest the key metrics include numbers of patients screened (and tracked against the number of patients who arrive in clinic), the rates of positive screens, and the outcome of the positive screens: was a brief intervention recorded? A referral? And if a referral was made, did the patient keep the appointment or meet with the behavioral health specialist?
The integration of a process like SBIRT into a clinic can produce a surprising volume of data in terms of processes and outcomes, and it will be important to monitor all of this data in order to ensure your project’s success.