TY - JOUR
T1 - Linking data to decision-making
T2 - Applying qualitative data analysis methods and software to identify mechanisms for using outcomes data
AU - Patel, Vaishali N.
AU - Riley, Anne W.
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank the participants for sharing their thoughts on issues that affect the children they serve and the organizations they work in. We would like to acknowledge the assistance of Susan Berkowitz of Westat Corporation in helping develop the semi-structured field guides and guiding early stages of the project. We would like to thank Sharon Hodges and anonymous reviewers for their comments. This research was conducted while the first author was a doctoral student at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the Department of Health Policy and Management. This work was supported by National Institute of Mental Health # F31 MH68097, P50 MH43703, and T32 MH19545; Johns Hopkins University_s Charles D. Flagle Award and Ernest Lyman and Helen Ross Stebbins Award; and Canadian Institutes of Health Research funded Research on Addictions and Mental Health Policy & Services award.
PY - 2007/10
Y1 - 2007/10
N2 - A multiple case study was conducted to examine how staff in child out-of-home care programs used data from an Outcomes Management System (OMS) and other sources to inform decision-making. Data collection consisted of thirty-seven semi-structured interviews with clinicians, managers, and directors from two treatment foster care programs and two residential treatment centers, and individuals involved with developing the OMS; and observations of clinical and quality management meetings. Case study and grounded theory methodology guided analyses. The application of qualitative data analysis software is described. Results show that although staff rarely used data from the OMS, they did rely on other sources of systematically collected information to inform clinical, quality management, and program decisions. Analyses of how staff used these data suggest that improving the utility of OMS will involve encouraging staff to participate in data-based decision-making, and designing and implementing OMS in a manner that reflects how decision-making processes operate.
AB - A multiple case study was conducted to examine how staff in child out-of-home care programs used data from an Outcomes Management System (OMS) and other sources to inform decision-making. Data collection consisted of thirty-seven semi-structured interviews with clinicians, managers, and directors from two treatment foster care programs and two residential treatment centers, and individuals involved with developing the OMS; and observations of clinical and quality management meetings. Case study and grounded theory methodology guided analyses. The application of qualitative data analysis software is described. Results show that although staff rarely used data from the OMS, they did rely on other sources of systematically collected information to inform clinical, quality management, and program decisions. Analyses of how staff used these data suggest that improving the utility of OMS will involve encouraging staff to participate in data-based decision-making, and designing and implementing OMS in a manner that reflects how decision-making processes operate.
KW - Child and adolescent mental health services research
KW - Decision-making
KW - Informatics
KW - Outcomes measurement
KW - Qualitative research
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U2 - 10.1007/s11414-007-9064-4
DO - 10.1007/s11414-007-9064-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 17647110
AN - SCOPUS:35448971917
SN - 1094-3412
VL - 34
SP - 459
EP - 474
JO - Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research
JF - Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research
IS - 4
ER -