It’s no secret that Eleos has the power to reduce overall documentation time and provide clinicians with tools to measure and evaluate their sessions. But did you know that it can also improve therapeutic outcomes?

At least, that’s what a new study suggests.

At the Ozark Center in Joplin, MO, the team is always looking for ways to improve the effectiveness of their therapy sessions. That’s why they agreed to partner with Eleos for this study. Del Camp, Chief Clinical Officer of Ozark Center, explained, “Anything that I can bring to the table that will enhance the clinical skill of my providers is what I want to do.”

The preliminary randomized controlled trial (RCT) compared the anxiety and depression symptoms of 23 therapy clients whose treatment was augmented with the use of Eleos software to those of 24 clients undergoing treatment-as-usual. It was the first study to cover the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of an AI-powered platform designed to improve behavioral therapy through data and therapist feedback.

Eleos provided therapists in the study with a range of benefits. It allowed therapists to measure and evaluate their sessions, reducing overall documentation time, and providing them with tools to improve their clinical skills. Additionally, Eleos provided therapy-specific AI-derived insights, such as a summary of the patient’s concerns described in treatment, symptom response to treatment, and rate of evidence-based practices provided by the therapist.

Del Camp noticed the difference Eleos made for the clinicians who used it, explaining, “The Ozark Center clinicians who use Eleos augmented intelligence have clients who feel better faster and stay in treatment longer than those who do not.”

Here are the study’s official results:

• While both groups reported high satisfaction with their therapy experience, the Eleos group attended 67% more sessions than those in the treatment-as-usual group, representing a 2x improvement in client engagement.

• Depression and anxiety symptoms were reduced by 34% and 29% in the Eleos group, as opposed to 20% and 8% for the treatment-as-usual group, representing a 3-4x better symptom reduction.

Beyond the encouraging effects on therapy outcomes, therapists who used the Eleos software reported an improved therapy experience, noting gains in areas such as documentation time and awareness of cognitive-behavioral therapy skills utilized. Any increase in therapist efficiency and effectiveness is poised to have a significant impact, especially at a time when demand for services is at an all-time high.

Additionally, therapists who used Eleos were able to submit their completed progress notes nearly 80% faster than therapists who did not use Eleos, with AI-supported clinicians submitting within 14 hours on average versus 69 hours for the non-AI-supported clinicians—an average reduction of 55 hours (2.3 days).

The study had some limitations, including a small sample size and a short follow-up period. More research with larger sample sizes and longer follow-up periods will be needed to clarify these results and to examine whether and how AI platforms can be used to enhance treatment for people with severe mental illnesses.

These results are promising and they lay the groundwork for future research that explores how augmented intelligence tools can enhance behavioral health. As more studies examine Eleos and similar platforms, and more clinicians start integrating these tools into their practice, the future is bright for real improvement in the effectiveness of therapy sessions. 

You can read the full study here, or check out the Journal of Medical Internet Research, Vol 25, No 1 (2023): Jan-Dec.