Practitioner FAQs

Since Loffty is a self assessment it is as accurate as your client or patient’s responses to the questions. If they accidentally answer a question incorrectly then their final report will vary from a report had they answered that question differently. The follow-up consultation with your client is your opportunity to review the Loffty report together, ask clarifying questions and discuss next steps. Therefore, Loffty cannot be ‘wrong’ to the extent your client tells the truth about values and feelings, as is the case with all clinical interviews.

The Loffty multi-disorder mental health assessment technology was originally conceived in 2003 by Dr John Clarkson, a New Zealand born, Australian-based GP and has been further developed over the years by an interdisciplinary team of mental health professionals in Australia and the USA.

Loffty is intended for use by people over 15 years of age who are genuinely seeking to get better and are therefore providing truthful answers. Use of Loffty by people under 18 years of age is up to the discretion of the individual and their parents and is based on your professional judgement as a practitioner.

Firstly, Loffty is not a psychometric test. A psychometric test is not a clinical evaluation for mental health purposes, but rather a tool often used by recruitment firms or HR departments to assess a person’s suitability to a particular job profile. Loffty is not a computer-generated ‘Personality Profile’.

Loffty is a clinical mental health self-assessment tool. Compared with cumbersome, paper-based psychiatric outcome tools, Loffty has significant advantages. Most tools are only able to provide an assessment of one or two conditions in isolation. Loffty is unique in its ability to assess multiple conditions simultaneously which is extremely important in helping you as the practitioner understand your patient/client fully. The fact that Loffty is in an electronic form also enables it to include other additional functionality.

Loffty is not a diagnostic tool and is not intended to replace you, whether you are a GP, psychologist or other mental health specialist. Loffty helps you collect a lot of information far more quickly than you could ever collect even in multiple consultations. As a decision support tool, the Loffty report helps you drill down to the priority issues quickly enabling you to ask more important questions sooner. This accelerates the time it takes for you to really get to know your client so you can help them feel better, faster.

No, the Loffty application is a web application so clients/patients need to be online to complete their assessments.

The only requirement for accreditation as a Loffty Practitioner is provision of your practicing credentials, eg. provider/registration number in your country.

If you refer your clients to register themselves and nominate you as their practitioner, they pay Loffty directly (see pricing section on the Practitioner page). If you prepay for bulk assessments you receive volume discounts and you can pass discounts on to your patients/clients as you see fit when you invoice them.

No. Loffty is FREE to refer your patients or clients to use. There are no separate fees payable by or fixed term contracts to sign in order for you to use Loffty.

Most users complete a Loffty assessment in about 15-30 minutes. Some may be a little faster and some may take longer but there is no time limit to complete a Loffty assessment.

Yes, your Loffty patients will get to see their Loffty report. Most practitioners find it works best when they discuss and prepare a mental health treatment plan together.

Of course. No typing is required. Loffty questions are answered using a mouse on a computer or using a touch screen device. Loffty questions require a Year 7 reading ability. If users cannot read the assessment questions by themselves they can have someone assist them.

Not at this stage, but the assessment report can be saved as a PDF and indirectly imported into electronic medical record systems (EMRs).

No. The Loffty report does not show exactly how each question is answered however, the ‘More Info’ button in the report provides detailed patient-specific symptomatology along with a severity rating for each condition assessed. The Loffty report provides key information for you to investigate further. For example when someone is assessed as having a mild, moderate or severe rating for a condition, you would further investigate to confirm the self assessment and determine next steps.