Accessing Care Should be Accessible: How We’ve Improved Our Assessment Process Experience for All

For many of the community members we serve, the first step toward accessing care is completing a mental health assessment. At Compass Health, we want that first step to be seamless. That’s why we decided to take an innovative approach to eliminate barriers and make the process more accessible and supportive for both our clients and staff – and it’s working.

The assessment process is a crucial part of the journey for clients at Compass Health. Here, an experienced clinician will ask a client questions about themselves, their circumstances, and their challenges to establish an initial diagnosis and then, ultimately, connect them to the right services. This assessment process is critical for clinicians to understand their clients and figure out the best possible treatment plan for them.
In early 2024, a group of team members from adult outpatient and intensive outpatient, child and family outpatient, and children’s intensive services (WISe) began meeting regularly to address concerns regarding the assessment process and identify opportunities for improvement. There was a need to streamline screenings, and to make the process client-focused, engaging, and congruent with Compass Health’s mission, vision, and values. To accomplish this, the workgroup asked themselves four questions:

• How do we make the assessment process quicker?
• Can we better tailor it for assessors?
• Is it centered on the client’s needs?
• And does it reflect trauma-informed practices?

Over six months, the team met fourteen times to address these questions by analyzing every aspect of the assessment process, working to:

• Create a list of targeted questions, supported by data-driven insights, to help assessors narrow down a diagnosis
• Eliminate redundancy to better address clients’ needs and help assessors know where to refer clients next
• Ensure the process is trauma-informed by thoughtfully considering when to ask about sensitive topics and perform necessary screenings, reserving certain aspects for clinicians so clients don’t have to relay personal information to multiple people or endure assessments that are longer than necessary
• Make the screening process usable for experienced assessors while also providing enough support for newer staff

Once the workgroup crafted an assessment that met this criteria, Compass Health launched a month-long pilot program to test and refine the new approach. During this testing phase, the team conducted 130 assessments using the original process, which took an average of 85 minutes to complete. However, when using the new and improved assessment form, the team found that the average assessment took just 67 minutes to complete. This 21% time savings directly correlates with a better, more efficient experience for the client, eliminating redundancy and connecting them to care faster.

After seeing impactful results from the pilot program and receiving positive feedback from clients and staff, Compass Health officially rolled out the new assessment in September, and assessors began smoothly incorporating it into their daily processes.

“It’s incredibly gratifying to witness the improvements that this new approach has had on the client and staff experience,” said Compass Health Chief Quality Officer Becky Olson-Hernandez. “Assessments are now quicker, and we are noticing that clients feel more centered in the process. When we can streamline the backend, it allows us to devote our all to giving clients the best quality care.”

The rollout process has been smooth, with the workgroup members training their teams one-on-one to personally deliver the lessons they learned from the pilot stage.

“The engagement and enthusiasm from staff involved has been incredible,” said Jessie Ellis, Quality Director at Compass Health. “Our team members are eager to implement positive change in a process that’s used every day and that serves as the introduction to care for community members.”

At Compass Health, we understand that asking for help isn’t easy, which is why we strive to make this initial, vital touchpoint for clients as smooth as possible. As Northwest Washington’s behavioral healthcare leader, we’re proud to bring fresh perspectives to valued practices and develop improved experiences with our values and clients at the center of our processes.