How therapists and patients need to develop a clinical feedback system after 18 months of use in a practice-research network: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND: A personalized computer-adaptive system for clinical feedback and routine outcome monitoring in mental health, Norse Feedback aims to bridge the needs for standardized and idiographic measures in ordinary practice. METHODS: Item response theory analyses of completed treatment processes (n = 800) informed a qualitative study comprising individual in-depth interviews and focus groups with patients (n = 9) and clinicians (n = 10). The research question was: How do clinicians and patients contribute to developing a clinical feedback system in a continuous process aimed at refining its clinical usefulness? RESULTS: We conducted thematic analyses and found five themes: 1. Added clinical needs, 2. Needs for re-organizing the clinician report, 3.Needs for differentiation of clinical content, 4. User-interface needs, and 5. Item level suggestions. CONCLUSION: In this article, we detail resulting needs for continuous adaptation to practice, and discuss implications of the concrete experiences with the Norse action research program for the larger field of ROM/CFS implementation.