Computerizing an integrated clinical and financial record system in a CMHC: a pilot project

The authors describe the three-year experience of a mid-sized community mental health center in designing and installing an automated Staff/Management Information System (S/MIS). The purpose of the project, piloted at the heart od Texas Region Mental Health Mental Retardation Center (HOTRMHMR) in Waco, Texas, was to examine the feasibility of a comprehensive data system operating at a local level which would create an effective audit trail for services and reimbursement and serve as a viable mechanism for the transmission of center data to a state system via computer tapes. Included in the discussion are agency philosophy, costs, management attitudes, the design and implementation process, and special features which evolved from the fully integrated system.