Computer-based monitoring of clinical care in a public psychiatric hospital unit

A computer-based clinical monitoring system on a 40-bed university hospital psychiatric unit provides documentation to justify clinicians' diagnosis and choice of treatment and facilitates evaluation of patients' progress at scheduled intervals. The microcomputer system was developed to meet state guidelines for monitoring patients receiving neuroleptic drug treatment. A weekly status report generated for each patient alerts the treating physician to cases in which data do not justify clinical decisions, identifies potential problems, and suggests considering for discharge patients whose symptoms have sufficiently abated. The system is also useful in supervision and research.