Mental Health Interviewing Software for Clinicians

In the increasingly automated world of health care management, it is incumbent on practitioners to replace handwritten reports with electronic documentation. Many companies are introducing mental health interviewing software to facilitate the process of conducting intake interviews. These programs all possess similar features.

Personal Information Screen

• Mental health interview screening software tools generally open with a screen in which to type the patient's general information -- name, address, date of birth and marital status. The session date will also typically appear on this screen. Symptoms and diagnosis may also be entered on this screen, as may medications.

Intake Screens

• The intake screens typically contain spaces to provide more detailed information related to diagnoses. For example, the intake screen may require information related to the patient's parents and their marital status at the time of patient's treatment. Other intake screen information includes abuse situations such as child or sexual, addictions or concurrent psychiatric issues.

Treatment Screens

• Treatment screens contain outlines for specific treatments, usually on a per session basis. Many programs allow spaces for outcome results to be entered at the next session. Treatment screens may also contain spaces for qualifying remarks related to biomedical conditions or relapse potential.

Miscellaneous Screens

• One of the major benefits of mental health interview software is its versatility. A busy clinician may not think of every single aspect of every patient's treatment in every session, but with this type of software, he doesn't need to because the software has it all. Most programs contain screens in which to enter information related to the patient's physical health, for example. Many also contain screens allowing for sibling interviews, employment history and living arrangements.