In order to raise awareness and promote health and wellness each year, May is observed as Mental Health Awareness Month. Join us in working to educate the public about mental health conditions, reduce stigma, and improve access to treatment and care.
As the founder of mdlogix, Allen Tien, MD, MHS, can attest to the importance of keeping mental health in focus not just during the month of May, but throughout the entire year.
In an effort to make mental health resources and data readily available year round, Dr. Tien first began developing software to help automate public health research processes as an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore. With the goal of providing support for students, teachers, and health care professionals, Dr. Tien founded Medical Decision Logic, Inc. in 1997, a company known today as mdlogix.
In 2008, mdlogix launched bhworks, a large-scale, web-based platform for suicide prevention and data-based behavioral health care, which supports early intervention, treatment, and administrative needs. bhworks is used across multiple states and systems to help bridge the gap between policy and practice, while connecting multiple health, education, justice, and social service resources.
“Mental health deserves more than a month of attention and requires everyday action. At mdlogix, our work is deeply rooted in the understanding that data-informed care is a necessity to making the behavioral health industry thrive,” said Dr. Tien. “Through the use of the bhworks platform, we’re making data-driven, mental health resources and intervention accessible across all systems, so support is always within reach.”
The bhworks web platform has several real-world applications for behavioral health analysis. It enables standardized risk assessments for students, streamlines referral and case management workflows with mental health providers, and provides access to a pool of resources all at the user’s fingertips. Acting as a central data hub, the software helps coordinate the availability of public and private programs, track outcomes, and provides accurate and reliable reporting measurements. With real-time analytics on demand, bhworks replaces complicated spreadsheets, simplifies reporting, supports resource allocation, and improves care beyond the clinical mental health setting.
Over nearly two decades, Dr. Tien has worked with a small, dedicated team of software designers and engineers to refine the bhworks software toolset into a highly configurable platform. The software can not only be utilized in a clinical setting, but also has been adapted for K–12 schools and various state and local agencies. The student health software allows schools to efficiently conduct behavioral health screenings via a computer or mobile device, enabling the assessment of entire student populations with minimal disruption for staff. These screenings help identify concerns and key risk factors such as trauma, anxiety, depression, substance use, suicidality, family environment, and bullying.
Today, bhworks is used in school systems and government agencies across Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, New York, New Mexico, Minnesota and Maryland. In Baltimore County, the Department of Health is using the program’s capabilities to support a comprehensive set of services for the prevention of opioid deaths.
As the conversation around mental health continues to evolve, platforms like bhworks play a critical role in making change possible. By combining technology with public health expertise, Dr. Tien and his team have created a product that actively supports schools and local communities.
“Our goal at mdlogix is to ensure that mental health support is not only accessible but timely, and tailored to overcome real challenges. We developed bhworks to help meet this need, by making behavioral health data, screening tools, and coordinated care resources readily available,” said Dr. Tien. “Technology alone doesn’t solve the mental health crisis, but it can be a powerful tool in helping people get the care they need when and where they need it.”
