title: Interrater reliability of using brief standardized outcome measures in a community mental health setting.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Given psychiatry's need to implement measurement-based care, the study examined whether direct-care staff could reliably administer brief positive and negative symptom instruments to track symptom changes and inform clinical decision making.
  
  
  METHODS
  Raters (82 case managers) were assessed at baseline. Training was provided for individuals not meeting reliability criteria. These individuals were reassessed to determine the effect of training. In addition, rater drift was assessed for raters judged to be reliable at baseline.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventy-seven percent of direct-care staff met criteria for reliability either at baseline or after they received additional training.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A majority of direct-care staff can be trained to reliability on brief scales of positive and negative symptoms that can be used to guide clinical decision making.
authors.affiliation: Departmentof Psychiatry, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX 78229-3900, USA. velligand@uthscsa.edu
authors.forename: Dawn I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Velligan
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lopez
authors.forename: Desirée A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Castillo
authors.forename: Bren
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Manaugh
authors.forename: A Camis
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Milam
authors.forename: Alexander L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D003155:Community Mental Health Centers; D020000:Decision Support Systems, Clinical; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D013781:Texas