Polaris Launches New Version of its Adult Mental Health Outcomes System
Polaris has rolled out the next version of Polaris-MH, which includes a number of enhancements to help providers deliver better care at lower costs.

LANGHORNE, PA, December 02, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Polaris Health Directions has released the next version of Polaris-MH, an innovative computer-based outcomes management system for adult mental health. The features available in the new release provide unique, evidence-based decision support to help providers improve treatment outcomes while averting costs associated with ineffective care.

The rollout of the new version will be completed by the end of the year at Kaiser Permanente and the Canadian Department of National Defense.

"We are very pleased to offer a number of enhancements to Polaris-MH that will help providers deliver better care at lower costs, and will complement the system's current ability to identify strength and problem areas and determine the best course of treatment," said Dr. Grant Grissom, president of Polaris. "These new features reflect our commitment to offer practical, research-informed assessments that address the needs of our customers."

The upgraded Polaris-MH offers four new capabilities that set it apart from other mental health assessments on the market. On patient intake and update assessment reports Polaris has added an Expected Treatment Response graph that shows a patient's progress when compared to other patients with similar mental health and treatment history, symptom severity and strengths. It answers for therapists: Is this treatment working for this patient?

To address the high rates of people with both psychological and addictive disorders who seek treatment, scales from the widely used Addiction Severity Index have been incorporated to screen for and assess the severity of substance abuse. The scores are presented as a percentile based on norms for more than 10,000 patients in chemical dependency treatment.

Polaris has introduced a resilience scale based upon norms for more than 4,000 mental health outpatients. This indicator helps a therapist determine a patient's ability to "bounce back" and emphasizes that strengths can be as significant to a patient's recovery as problem areas. Finally, the enhanced system includes an inconsistency index score, which alerts therapists when patients' responses are inconsistent, and potentially unreliable.

Other additions include a French language version of the assessment (a Spanish option is available, too), and a brief fax-based assessment option for situations where a computer is not accessible.

For more information on Polaris-MH, visit http://www.polarishealth.com/solutions/MH/mental_health.html or send an e-mail to moreinfo@polarishealth.com.

Press Release Contact Information:

Jesse Nankin
Polaris Health Directions
Comm./Marketing Consultant
444 Oxford Valley Road, Suite 300
Langhorne, PA
USA 19047
Voice: 215.359.3901
Website: Visit Our Website