In this article we'll discuss what the Blueprint Diagnostic Screener is and the logic it uses to assign Assessments based on the Client's results.
Click any of the index links below to jump ahead! If you'd like to first learn more about the history of the measure and why the BPDS is so important in clinical practice, you can always start here.
Index:
Logic: Diagnostic Domains
Logic: The Questions
Logic: Assigned Assessments
Logic: Scoring
What is the BPDS?
In a nutshell. 🥜
The Blueprint Diagnostic Screener (BPDS) is an Assessment for Clients comprised of 24 questions (25 for adolescents) with the purpose of screening for a range of Diagnostic Domains, then automatically assigning Assessment(s) to the Clients so that symptoms and treatment outcomes can be measured.
Clinicians can make changes to which Assessments assigned to the Client at anytime, allowing for automation with control. 🙌
BPDS Workflow
From Clinician to Client to Clinician. 🔄
When a new Client is first enrolled into Blueprint (or when the BPDS is assigned to an existing Client), the Client receives a text, email or push notification to complete the BPDS.
Based on their results, the BPDS automatically assigns new Assessments to the Client, notifies the Clinician, then sends those Assessments to the Client on their Next Measure Date.
💡 To learn more about the BPDS Workflow, check out this in-depth article where we break down the entire process: BPDS: Workflow
The Logic: Diagnostic Domains, Questions and Follow-up Assessments
Under the hood. 🚗
The logic of the BPDS can be explained in 4 points:
Diagnostic Domains
The Questions
Follow-up Assessments
Scoring (Tying it all together! 🎉)
1. The Diagnostic Domains
A Diagnostic Domain is a type of mental health diagnosis such as Anxiety, Depression, Disassociation, etc. The BPDS screens for 14 Diagnostic Domains (12 for adolescents), which we'll review in point 4 below.
Each Diagnostic Domain has the following:
Question(s): The questions that make up the BPDS are each related to a specific Diagnostic Domain. The Client's answer to the question contributes to that domain's Cutoff.
A Cutoff: The numerical score that if reached, the domain is considered clinically significant (indication that an intervention strategy may be effective in reducing symptoms).
Follow-up Assessment(s): If the results reach the Diagnostic Domain's Cutoff, the related "follow-up" Assessment(s) will be assigned to the Client.
2. The Questions
The BPDS uses 24 questions (25 for adolescents) to determine which Diagnostic Domain(s) are clinically significant for the Client.
Each question has the following:
A targeted Diagnostic Domain: What the question is screening for (Anxiety, Depression, Dissociation, etc.)
A 5-point Likert scale answer: A type of psychometric response scale in which Clients specify their level of agreement to a statement in five points. Each response holds a numerical score which adds to the targeted domain's overall Cutoff score:
3. The Assigned Assessments
Immediately after completion, the appropriate Assessments are automatically assigned to the Client based on their BPDS results.
The Assessments provide a way to measure Client's symptoms, outcomes and gain insight to make measurement-informed treatment decisions.
💡 Because the Assessments are not sent to the Client until their Next Measure Date, you can assign or unassign Assessments anytime before then if you'd like!
4. Scoring (Tying it all together! 🎉 )
Below we have a list of all the Domestic Domains the BPDS screens for, their Cutoff, the Assessment that would be assigned if the Cutoff is met, and the exact questions that are presented to the Client.
❗️The table below is for Adult BPDS. To see the logic for adolescents under the age of 18, check out BPDS: Scoring for Adolescents (Ages 13-17).
Diagnostic Domain | Domain Questions | Cutoff | Assigned Assessments |
Depression | - Little interest or pleasure in doing things? - Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless? | 2 - Any question with a response equal to or greater than Several Days. | |
Anger | - Feeling more irritated, grouchy, or angry than usual? | 2 - Any question with a response equal to or greater than Several Days. | |
Mania | - Sleeping less than usual, but still have a lot of energy? - Starting lots more projects than usual or doing more risky things than usual? | 2 - Any question with a response equal to or greater than Several Days. | |
Anxiety | - Feeling nervous, anxious, frightened, worried, or on edge?
- Feeling panic or being frightened?
- Avoiding situations that make you feel anxious? | 2 - Any question with a response equal to or greater than Several Days. | |
Somatic Symptoms | - Unexplained aches and pains (e.g., head, back, joints, abdomen, legs) - Feeling that your illnesses are not being taken seriously enough? | 2 - Any question with a response equal to or greater than Several Days. | |
Psychosis | - Hearing things other people couldn’t hear, such as voices even when no one was around? - Feeling that someone could hear your thoughts, or that you could hear what another person was thinking? | 1 - Any question with a response equal or greater than Rare, less than a day or two. | |
Sleep Problems | - Problems with sleep that affected your sleep quality over all? | 2 - Any question with a response equal to or greater than Several Days. | |
Memory Problems | - Problems with memory (e.g., learning new information) or with location (e.g., finding your way home)? | 2 - Any question with a response equal to or greater than Several Days. | |
Repetitive Thoughts/Behavior | - Unpleasant thoughts, urges, or images that repeatedly enter your mind?
- Feeling driven to perform certain behaviors or mental acts over and over again? | 2 - Any question with a response equal to or greater than Several Days. | |
Dissociation | - Feeling detached or distant from yourself, your body, your physical surroundings, or your memories? | 2 - Any question with a response equal to or greater than Several Days. | |
Personality Functioning | - Not knowing who you really are or what you want out of life?
- Not feeling close to other people or enjoying your relationships with them? | 2 - Any question with a response equal to or greater than Several Days. | |
Substance Abuse | - Drinking at least 4 drinks of any kind of alcohol in a single day? - Smoking any cigarettes, a cigar, or pipe, or using snuff or chewing tobacco? - Using any of the following medicines ON YOUR OWN, that is, without a doctor’s prescription, in greater amounts or longer than prescribed [e.g., painkillers (like Vicodin), stimulants (like Ritalin or Adderall), sedatives or tranquilizers (like sleeping pills or Valium), or drugs like marijuana, cocaine or crack, club drugs (like ecstasy), hallucinogens (like LSD), heroin, inhalants or solvents (like glue), or methamphetamine (like speed)]? | 1 - Any question with a response equal or greater than Rare, less than a day or two. | |
Trauma | - Distress from a past experience that caused you to believe you would be injured or killed? | 2 - Any question with a response equal to or greater than Several Days. | |
Eating Pathology | - Judged yourself as a person based on your body weight or shape? | 2 - Any question with a response equal to or greater than Several Days. | |
Other | - All Questions | For Clients who do not screen positive for specific mental health conditions or constructs, Blueprint assigns the WEMWBS to measure non-specific outcomes related to overall wellbeing. |
Related Articles
We're here for you!
Do you have follow-up questions? We're here and happy to help!
Send us an email at help@blueprint-health.com or use the help messenger in the lower right corner to speak with our Support team. 💪🏼