Susan M. Essock

Susan M. Essock, Ph.D. is the Edna L. Edison Professor of Psychiatry, Emerita, in the Division of Behavioral Health Services and Policy Research in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University. She served as Division’s Director from its beginning in 2007 until 2015 and was the founding director of the Division’s Center for Practice Innovations. Dr. Essock’s work involves facilitating the translation of research findings into mental health policy and practice and evaluating the impact of behavioral health services. Prior to coming to Columbia in 2007, Dr. Essock was Director of the Division of Health Services Research in the Department of Psychiatry at Mount Sinai School of Medicine from 1998-2007. Before joining Mount Sinai, Dr. Essock was the Director of Psychological Services for the public mental health system in Connecticut for 10 years, where her responsibilities included quality assurance and performance monitoring. She also served for 5 years as Acting Deputy Commissioner for Evaluation for the New York State Office of Mental Health. Dr. Essock was a member of IBM Corporation’s Mental Health Advisory Board from its inception in 1990 through 2011, helping that corporation monitor the quality of mental health care provided under its managed behavioral healthcare vendors. Through all these efforts, a common theme has been creating scalable ways to implement new services, monitor implementation fidelity, and measure outcomes to assess the extent to which the services contracted for are, indeed, those being delivered. Hence Dr. Essock is familiar with a wide range of treatment and system challenges posed by people needing behavioral health care and she is a mental health services researcher with practical grounding in both public- and private-sector delivery systems and associated contracting for behavioral health services. 

Dr. Essock is a past Chair of the NIMH Services Research Review Committee, past Chair of the NIMH Intervention Research Review Committee, and a past member of the NIMH National Advisory Mental Health Council and the Advisory Council for the NIH’s Center for Scientific Review. At Columbia, Dr. Essock Co-chaired the Women Faculty Group in Psychiatry, a group dedicated to helping women faculty advance their careers and address gender-specific challenges often encountered by women and served on the Career Development Committee for research faculty in Neurology.

Research

Dr. Essock's main research interests are facilitating the translation of research findings into mental health policy and practice and evaluating the impact of behavioral health services.

Dr. Essock has worked with the New York State Office of Mental Health and other entities to determine ways to implement and sustain evidence-based treatments for people with serious mental illnesses and to determine the impact of managed care initiatives on people’s health.

Research Interests

  • Mental Health Services Research
  • Performance Measurement
  • Early intervention for individuals with schizophrenia

Grants

NURSE EDUCATION, PRACTICE, QUALITY, AND RETENTION INTERPROFESSIONAL COLLBORATIVE PRACTICE (Federal Gov)

Jul 1 2016 - Jun 30 2020

HOSPITAL DISCHARGE PLANNING AND TRANSITION TO OUTPATIENT PSYCHIATRIC CARE (Federal Gov)

Jul 1 2016 - Apr 30 2020

HOSPITAL DISCHARGE PLANNING AND TRANSITION TO OUTPATIENT PSYCHIATRIC CARE (Federal Gov)

Jul 1 2016 - Apr 30 2020

IMPROVING LIFE TRAJECTORIES FOR YOUTH WITH EARLY PSYCHOSIS (Federal Gov)

Sep 30 2014 - Sep 29 2019

IMPROVING LIFE TRAJECTORIES FOR YOUTH WITH EARLY PSYCHOSIS (Federal Gov)

Sep 30 2014 - Sep 29 2019

COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF ADAPTIVE PHARMACOTHERAPY STRATEGIES FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA (Private)

Jul 1 2015 - Jun 30 2018

NURSE EDUCATION, PRACTICE, QUALITY, AND RETENTION - INTERPROFESSIONAL COLBORATIVE PRACTICE (Federal Gov)

Jul 1 2014 - Jun 30 2017

EVALUATION OF NY STATE HEALTH HOMES (NY State Gov)

Jan 1 2014 - Dec 31 2015

WORKPLACE CENTER (NY State Gov)

Jul 1 2010 - Jun 30 2015

WORKPLACE CENTER (NY State Gov)

Jul 1 2010 - Jun 30 2015

SELF-DIRECTED CARE: TRANSFORMATION TRANSFER INITIATIVE (Federal Gov)

Feb 23 2014 - Sep 1 2014

RAISE-IES: DURATION OF UNTREATED PSYCHOSIS STUDY (Federal Gov)

Aug 29 2013 - Aug 28 2014

PREVENTING RELAPSE IN YOUNG ADULTS WITH SERIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS BY ENHANCING ENGAGEMENT IN CARE (Private)

Jul 1 2009 - Jul 1 2014

RECOVERY AFTER AN INITIAL SCHIZOPHRENIC EPISODE (RAISE) (Federal Gov)

Jul 13 2009 - Dec 31 2013

ADVANCED CENTER FOR STATE RESEARCH TO SCALE UP EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICES FOR CHILDREN (Federal Gov)

May 1 2012 - Apr 30 2013

EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF CLINICAL ALERTS GENERATED FROM MEDICAID CLAIMS DATA (Federal Gov)

Jun 18 2011 - Feb 28 2013

THE NYC MENTAL HEALTH CARE MONITORING INITIATIVE: PRACTICES TO ENHANCE TREATMENT ENGAGEMENT AND RETENTION FOR PATIENTS WITH SERIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS CRIMINAL JUSTICE INVOLVEMENT (Private)

Jan 1 2010 - Dec 31 2012

ADVANCED CENTER FOR STATE RESEARCH TO SCALE UP EBPS FOR CHILDREN (Federal Gov)

Aug 9 2011 - Apr 30 2012

Selected Publications

  • Essock SM, Mueser KT, Drake RE, Covell NH, McHugo GJ, Frisman LK, Kontos NJ, Jackson CT, Townsend F, Swain K: Comparison of ACT and standard case management for delivering integrated treatment for co-occuring disorders. Psychiatric Services 2006;57: 185-196
  • Essock SM, Covell NH, Davis SM, Stroup TS, Rosenheck RA, Lieberman JA: Effectiveness of switching antipsychotic medications. American Journal of Psychiatry 2006;163: 2090-2095
  • Essock SM, Covell NH, Leckman-Westin E, Lieberman J, Sederer L, Kealey E, Finnerty M, and members of the Scientific Advisory Committee: Identifying clinically questionable psychotropic prescribing practices for Medicaid recipients in New York State. Psychiatric Services 2009;60: 1595-1602
  • Essock SM, Schooler N, Stroup TS, McEvoy JP, Jackson C, Covell NH: Effectiveness of switching from antipsychotic polypharmacy to monotherapy. American Journal of Psychiatry 2011;168: 702-708
  • Donahue S, Manuel J, Herman D, Fraser L, Henian C, Essock S. : Development and use of a transition readiness scale to help manage ACT team capacity. Psychiatric Services 2012;63: 223-229
  • Wisdom JP, Knapik S, Holley MW, Van Bramer J, Sederer LI, Essock SM. Best practices: New York's outpatient mental health clinic licensing reform: using tracer methodology to improve service quality. Psychiatric Services. 2012;63(5):418-420.
  • Humensky J, Dixon LB, Essock SM. State mental health policy: an interactive tool to estimate costs and resources for a first-episode psychosis initiative in New York State. Psychiatric Services. 2013;64(9):832-834.
  • Essock SM, Nossel IR, McNamara K, et al. Practical Monitoring of Treatment Fidelity: Examples From a Team-based Intervention for People With Early Psychosis. Psychiatric Services. 2015;66 (7) 674-676.
  • Essock SM, Olfson M, Hogan MF. Current practice for measuring mental health outcomes the United States. International Review of Psychiatry. 2015;27(4) 296-305.
  • Essock SM, Goldman HH, Hogan MF, Hepburn BM, Sederer LI, Dixon LB. State Partnerships for first-episode psychosis services. Psychiatric Services . Jul 2015;66 (7) 671-673.
  • Dixon LB, Goldman HH, Bennett ME, Essock SM. Implementing coordinated specialty care for early psychosis: The RAISE Connection Program. Psychiatric Services. Jul 2015;66(7): 691-698.
  • Hoagwood KE, Essock SM, Morrissey J, et al. Use of pooled state administrative data for mental health services research: Lessons from the field. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research . 2016; 43(1):67-68.

For a complete list of publications, please visit PubMed.gov

 

Last Updated March 6, 2020