What information do clinicians value for monitoring adolescent client progress and outcomes?

Despite the proliferation of outcomes measurement systems in managed care, there has been no systematic attempt to discover what information clinicians find useful. 539 mental health clinicians who serve adolescent clients responded to a mail survey. They rated the value of 29 categories of information describing adolescent clients. Results show how clinician background and experience influence the kind of information they prefer and how and when clinicians prefer to receive information. If outcomes measurement systems are ever to become useful tools, they must provide information that clinicians need and are willing to use.