Implementation of an electronic medical record system in a pediatric psychopharmacology program

The design, implementation, and utilization of an electronic medical record system (EMRS) in a pediatric psychopharmacology clinic is described. The EMRS is a relational database with information entered directly by the clinician during a patient visit. It has been used during more than 2590 patient visits with 805 patients. Complete clinical documentation and simultaneous data entry as well as computer generated prescriptions for the patient were accomplished 75% of the time within a 20-min medication management session. One hundred consecutive parents of patients were asked to fill out a five-question survey to begin to assess the impact of the application. Of the 87 parents who responded, all (100%) noted that the doctor paid attention to their concerns. Between 88 and 90% of the parents reported that the use of the computer is a 'good' thing, made it easier to work with the doctor, and that they understood why the computer was being used. The findings support that the development and implementation of an EMRS with direct clinician information entry within pediatric psychopharmacology clinic, is feasible.