Frequently Asked Questions

Because BON it is the most feasible, research tested, evidence based, clinically supported, client-driven, culturally responsive MBC system available.

Better Outcomes Now (BON) is an American company. BON stores all data and information in the United States with a secure provider called Aptible. The provider is an industry leader in securely managing and storing confidential and highly sensitive healthcare information. Aptible has been tested and passed audits by Kaiser Permanente, MD Anderson, UnitedHealth Group, John Hopkins, Stanford and many others. Better Outcomes Now’s database runs in a private subnet (hidden from the outside internet) and access is restricted to Better Outcomes Now. Database traffic is encrypted in transit and data is encrypted at rest using modern technology standards.

Yes. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) defines requirements for companies that create, receive, maintain or transmit protected health information (PHI). To meet its obligations under HIPAA, Better Outcomes Now (BON) has implemented extensive technical, physical and administrative safeguards to ensure the security of the PHI that it controls. BON takes its regulatory responsibilities very seriously and has also implemented a risk management and compliance framework to ensure continued compliance with HIPAA and industry standards.

Security of client information and privacy is the foundation of the Better Outcomes Now platform. We take this responsibility very seriously and have implemented significant measures to safeguard patients’ personal health information that exceed industry standards and best practices. Better Outcomes Now is compliant and conforms to digital and physical security protocols (including HIPAA), with SSL-secured access, and AES encryption at the filesystem level. We take many additional precautions to protect privacy including requiring strong passwords, automatic logouts, automatic access logging, secured data backups, two factor authentication and restrictive data access procedures. All data and information are stored in the US. Please review our Security Page for more details.

No. Only clients and their therapists have access to clients’ personal health information and assessment results. Since each participant is identified in Better Outcomes Now administrative dashboard by a unique code rather than their name, it is not possible for a Better Outcomes Now administrator to ascertain the identities of clients. If access to identifying information is required and authorized by the client and/or therapist, such access is logged and is prohibited from being used or disclosed for any other purpose.

The developer of the clinical process of PCOMS, Dr. Barry L Duncan life’s work has been dedicated to giving a voice to the marginalized and supporting the mission of public behavioral health. Since its inception Better Outcomes Now has been priced in a way that is affordable to organizations and individual providers alike. The cost of the software is based on the number of users and is invoiced annually. The cost for individual subscribers is $299 per year. For organizations, contact our Vice President at barbarahernandez@betteroutcomesnow.com for the cost of the software subscription. We also offer special pricing to university settings and graduate students.

Consistent progress monitoring throughout treatment services of any type has many benefits. It provides both the client and therapist with insight into progress which increases client engagement, reduces symptom or problem deterioration, and improves client outcomes. MBC is used as a guide to adjust clinical plans based on how a person is responding to treatment. When symptoms or presenting problems are consistently measured, it is easier for both the client and clinician to recognize when treatment plans are not effective, and outcomes are not being met.

Better Outcomes Now takes the guesswork out of measurement based care. The Outcomes Rating Scale (ORS) is a 4 item measure of the client’s level of distress that is reliable and valid. It is feasible for everyday, every session practice and avoids the pitfalls of piecemeal implementation or measures relegated to pre-post administration and the meaningless flicking of forms. Given that BON’s instruments have been widely used and researched with a broad range of client problems and diagnoses for over twenty years, BON is applicable across client/patient problems and diagnoses. No need for a lengthy array of confusing measures with questionable validity, BON provides one research tested, ultra-brief outcome measure—one size does indeed fit all, making BON the easiest and most user-friendly way to meet accreditation standards for MBC.

The Better Outcomes Now (BON) software is the true web application of the evidence-based practice the Partners for Change Outcome Management System (PCOMS). The software also makes available to its members the PHQ-9 and GAD-7. The BON software has been recognized for its ease of use in meeting accreditation standards with the use of one set of measures. The availability of 200 or more measures in a system creates additional work and decision-making efforts for leadership along with confusion for front line clinicians and the increased probability that assessments will not be administered. BON will discuss individual member needs and may add assessment that our members find beneficial based on BON project timelines and collaboration with its members. We value feedback from members actively using the BON software and are open to discussion about assessments that would be beneficial to their clients.

Monitoring the alliance has many benefits. Clients drop out for two reasons: First is that they are not benefiting from therapy. That’s why monitoring progress is important so that therapy can be altered before dropout. Second, clients drop out because the don’t like the therapy or the therapist. Something doesn’t seem right to the client. Administering the Session Rating Scale (SRS) at every session not only prevents dropout, it also helps build stronger relationships by conveying that the therapists values the client’s perspective and will alter therapy based on client feedback.

No. Client information is only seen by the client and their provider. Client information is not shared with or sold to any third parties such as pharmaceutical or insurance companies.

No worries, this happens to all of us sometimes. If you forgot your Better Outcomes Now (BON) password, you will need to contact your organizational administrator to provide a temporary password so that you can create a new password, and return to the log-in page to log-in. If you are an individual practitioner, please contact us at barbarahernandez@betteroutcomesnow.com and we will provide you with a temporary password to enable you to reset your password.

Yes. The Better Outcomes Now (BON) software allows owners and administrators to export all client data to Excel (.xls), sorted in any way, by therapist, program, filter, etc, that the exporter desires. Click on the “Export” link on the account page to access your aggregate stats.