Eliminating Defects in Behavioral Health Treatment.

Abstract

To improve care, clinicians should seek to eliminate defects in behavioral health systems. The proposed framework to eliminate defects has three parts: designing a vision for defect-free care, designing analytics to guide care delivery, and identifying and alleviating defects that impede expected outcomes. To shepherd this process, psychiatrists need to embrace the role of systems engineer. An ideal system should work to not only help people recover (get better) from acute illness, but also manage chronic disease effectively (get well) and establish preventive care whenever possible (stay well).