Implementation and Impact of Psychiatric Electronic Medical Records in a Public Medical Center.

OBJECTIVES This study describes the efforts to implement electronic charting in a large public psychiatric outpatient clinic with the objective to improve clinical documentation. METHODS Data made available through the quality review process are utilized to evaluate the effectiveness of the electronic intervention. The study is a comparative analysis of the three years before and three years after the point of implementation of electronic charting. RESULTS Statistical analyses indicate significant findings (p <.0001) in the comparison of the periods before and after implementation in terms of note completion and documentation of medication management, supporting the study's hypothesis that electronic intervention will improve the quality of clinical documentation. CONCLUSIONS This study contributes new knowledge to improve our understanding of the barriers and benefits of implementing and maintaining electronic charting in mental health settings.