Problem:
Implementing a Standardized Telehealth Protocol to Assess Recovery Progress Among Adults with Substance Use Disorder in an Outpatient Clinic. Need Assignment Help?
With a 9- to 10-slide narrated PowerPoint presentation with speaker note using the project title above and the word document below:
- Provide the DNP project purpose and outcomes.
- Identify interprofessional DNP project team members and their role in the project development and workflow.
- Describe each step of the workflow process and how you incorporated each step into your project.
- Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the informatics tools and databases used in the DNP project.
- Develop a schematic or visual representation of the workflow process of your DNP project.
Project Purpose:
The objective of this project is to establish a nurse-led methodology to standardize the assessment of individual recovery in an outpatient setting. The 10-item Brief Assessment of Recovery Capital (BARC-10) and the Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST-10) will be used to implement this project. The Brief Assessment of Recovery Capital Scale (BARC-10) is a self-report instrument that evaluates an individual's access to structural supports, such as recovery-oriented housing and community connections, as well as personal, social, physical, and occupational resources that facilitate the initiation and continuation of recovery (Vilsaint et al., 2017; Skinner, 1982). The DAST-10 complements the BARC-10 by focusing on the severity of drug use and associated functional impairments. Developed as a shorter, validated form of the original DAST instrument, the DAST-10 maintains strong sensitivity and specificity while reducing administration time, making it feasible for repeated telehealth assessment sessions (Shah et al., 2024). The instrument evaluates problematic drug use behaviors, consequences of substance use, and potential risk for relapse, providing an essential risk-focused dimension to the overall assessment framework.
Both instruments used to collect data are easy for both physicians and patients to understand and use. This tool can be used by physicians, nurse practitioners, nurse practitioner students, and other staff of the organization who will administer it to patients to assess recovery capital. The 10-item recovery capital measure demonstrated strong internal consistency, functioned equivalently across genders and locations, and encompassed all 10 original subscales. Screening approaches are essential for experts to evaluate drug misuse, as they constitute the preliminary phase in identifying drug use (Shah et al., 2024).
Expected Project Outcome:
Implementing a standardized telehealth protocol is expected to yield measurable improvements in several key clinical and operational outcomes with careful integration into existing clinical workflows to balance technological, operational, and human factors. Protocol development formalizes telehealth procedures, including eligibility criteria, session frequency, instrument administration, and documentation standards. BARC-10 and DAST-10 assessments are incorporated at intake, stabilization, and maintenance phases, with predefined intervals for longitudinal monitoring. Clinical decision algorithms are linked to instrument scores, guiding interventions such as referral for enhanced therapy, community resource linkage, or in-person evaluation. By establishing these clear pathways, the protocol ensures that assessment data inform actionable clinical decisions rather than serving merely as observational metrics.
Outcome 1: 100% of patients will receive the standardized screening tools BARC-10 and DAST-10 for SUD weekly during telehealth visits.
Outcome 2: 100% of patients with a DAST-10 score greater than 3 or a BARC-10 score less than 6 will receive appropriate referrals to their psychotherapist.
Staff Training and Workflow Integration: All clinical staff, including psychiatric nurse practitioners, will receive training in conducting structured telehealth assessments and administering the DAST-10 and BARC-10. Staff will also be trained to recognize nonverbal cues in virtual settings and respond to crisis disclosures remotely. This includes knowing all the hospitals in the patient's vicinity to refer patients for acute care when they cannot get in to see a psychotherapist and are spiraling out of control. Supervision sessions will be scheduled weekly during the initial phase to troubleshoot challenges and ensure adherence to the protocol.
Monitoring and Evaluation: Full-scale integration embeds telehealth assessments into routine practice, supported by ongoing monitoring, interdisciplinary review, and continuous quality improvement. This approach ensures standardized assessment is an integral part of care delivery rather than an ancillary technological feature. Documenting scores in EHRs supports longitudinal tracking, program evaluation, and data-driven resource allocation, reinforcing the value of structured telehealth protocols in clinical and organizational contexts.
Implementation Plan:
The first phase involves assessing organizational readiness, including telehealth infrastructure, electronic health record (EHR) compatibility, and staff competencies. Provider recruitment will be conducted via email (Appendix A). The project will be implemented after approval by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). A remote, web-based education session with the clinic's staff will cover the need for the project and the administration of assessment tools during each patient visit (Appendix B). Informed consent to administer the assessment will be obtained from the providers who will administer these tools to patients (Appendix C). During the televisit, patients will complete a 10-question pretest, DAST-10 (Appendix D), in the first week and a 10-question assessment test, BARC-10, on subsequent visits (Appendix E). Weekly compliance and documentation will be conducted throughout the project period. The success of the assessment tool will be reviewed at the end of the project, and the tool will be presented to the clinic committee for incorporation into the integrated management system (IMS).