ABSTRACT
In Maruish's (1999) overview of the current uses of psychological testing, the potential contributions of this tool for clinical decision making are discussed. With behavioral health care treatment limitations and other cost-control measures imposed by managed care and other health care stakeholders (e.g., employers), the use of brief, inexpensive, or public domain measures of symptom severity appears to be particularly suited to meeting the needs of marketplace (Maruish, 1994; Ficken, 1995). One such instrument is the recently developed Symptom Assessment-45 Questionnaire (SA-45; Strategic Advantage, Inc. [SAI], 1998). The value of the SA-45 has been demonstrated not only in behavioral health care settings, but also in primary care settings where approximately one quarter of the patients suffer from some form of behavioral health problem. The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the development of the SA-45 as well as its potential applications in primary care settings.
