Citation

Simon GE. Psychiatr. Serv. 2019; 70(8): 642-643.

Affiliation

Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Seattle.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, American Psychiatric Association)

DOI

10.1176/appi.ps.201900218

PMID

31138055

Abstract

As the digital revolution finally reaches the mental health clinic, we can point to actual examples of modern information technology ready to improve mental health care. The Veterans Health Administration is implementing population-based outreach to prevent suicide, driven by machine learning–derived risk prediction models. The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the first “prescription digital therapeutic,” a mobile phone app officially endorsed as safe and effective treatment for substance use disorders. Computerized voice processing may soon be capable of providing real-time feedback to psychotherapists regarding quality of treatment and therapeutic alliance.

Excitement about the potential of new information technologies, however, has sometimes focused more on the high-tech tools than on the problems we hope they can solve. Focusing on the technology, we might orient around finding new mental health applications for eHealth or machine learning rather than around unmet treatment needs or gaps in mental health care. In our excitement about new technology, we can become too much like the young child with a shiny new hammer who’s looking to pound anything that might be a nail.

If we hope to find the maximum benefit from exciting new tools, we should first identify the jobs that need doing ...

Language: en

Keywords

Suicide & self-destructive behavior, Computer technology