Routine outcome measures in Norway: Only partly implemented

Abstract

Norway has not had any strategy exclusively for the implementation of routine outcome measurement in the mental health services, but some efforts have been made as part of strategies for a national patient register and quality indicators. Fifteen years after the decision to make the rating of the Global Assessment of Functioning scale (GAF) mandatory at admission and discharge of each treatment episode in adult mental health services, this is still not fully implemented. An unknown and probably very low proportion of mental health services use GAF as a routine outcome measure in everyday clinical practice. Well-established electronic patient records in the mental health services and established procedures for reporting routine data to the National Patient Register should make it possible to collect and use routine outcome data. Implementation of routine outcome measurement in mental health services must be done with due emphasis on the critical steps in the various phases of the implementation process. The regional health authorities have a key role in establishing electronic systems that make relevant outcome measurements available in a seamless way for clinicians as well as for patients, and by contributing to a culture where quality and outcome are valued and given priority.