Eating disorder researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have developed a new procedure that takes detailed patient questionnaires and generates a fast, standardized score for mental health professionals.

The service is available free to doctors, psychologists and other health professionals working with patients who have eating disorders.

“Despite all the research, the fact is we still have limited treatments available in the field of eating disorders,” said Guido Frank, MD, eating disorder expert and associate professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. “But if we clinicians use similar validated assessments across disciplines and providers, the field of eating disorders will be more cohesive and more evidence-based.”

Frank and his fellow researchers, developed a web-based service where therapists can sign in patients. The patients fill out questionnaires developed for those with disorders like anorexia nervosa, bulimia and binge eating. Using a computer program, the questionnaire is automatically scored with a number that health care providers can use to understand the nature of the illness. The scoring process keeps the patients anonymous.

“The therapist receives the results and can discuss them with the patient,” Frank said. “It is purely a free service in the hopes that it will help.”

Frank said the system is unique in offering a standardized scoring method while bringing the latest science to practitioners in the field.

“Sometimes the work we do is hard to translate into the real world so we trying to close that research gap,” he said. “This shared knowledge, I believe, will help us personalize treatment and provide evidence-based interventions that are tailored to individual needs.”

The link to the service portal: Know Your Client/Know Your Patient https://ucdenver.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bwvPss5CqXYIvvn