Planning for Large-Scale Integrated Clinical Information Systems

Abstract

Since the 1960s, clinicians have been looking forward to the time when computers would be used routinely in the day-to-day delivery of mental health care (APA, 1969). Since then, a significant body of work has been published on the use of general clinical computer applications in the mental health field (Glueck, 1974; Sidowski, Johnson, & Williams, 1980; Hedlund et al., 1981; Schwartz, 1984; Lieff, 1987; Kolodner, 1990). However, except for psychological testing and patient interviewing, most mental health treatment environments are not routinely using clinical computer applications as an integral part of the health care delivery process (Glueck, 1974; Laska, 1976; Kolodner, 1986). Several reasons have been suggested for this, such as clinician (specifically physician) resistance, lack of clinician involvement in system design, and lack of managerial or financial support from within the health care institution (Hedlund et al., 1981).