Key Takeaways
- People with serious mental illness prioritize measures beyond symptoms: Through extensive engagement with those with lived experience, this report reveals that traditional symptom-based measures miss what matters most in recovery. Trust with providers, social connection, quality of life, and personal goal achievement emerged as the foundational elements and outcomes that truly drive meaningful recovery.
- A new measurement framework centers lived experience while supporting value-based care: The report introduces a three-part framework — Foundational Elements, Positive Life Changes, and Service Use — that balances what people with serious mental illness identify as priorities with measures that can drive accountability and payment reform. This approach offers a pathway to transform mental health care from measuring what’s easy to measuring what matters.
- Implementation requires strategic, phased approaches with technology support: Moving from measurement to meaningful change demands careful attention to reducing provider burden, building stakeholder buy-in, and leveraging emerging technologies like AI. The report outlines specific strategies for integrating these measures into existing care workflows and payment systems, with real-world examples from organizations already implementing similar approaches.
Across the United States, the behavioral health care system has struggled to consistently measure outcomes that truly reflect the needs and goals of people living with serious mental illness. Systems generally measure what’s easy to measure more so than measuring what really matters, leading to a system that inadequately meets the needs of those it aims to serve.
While clinical data, such as hospitalizations and measures of basic functioning, are commonly tracked, many critical aspects of recovery — like social support, trust, personal goals, and basic needs — are often overlooked. Ultimately, what gets measured gets done; aligning measurement with the real priorities of people with serious mental illness could significantly improve care quality and efficiency.
