How Behavioral Healthcare Informatics Systems Interface with Medical Informatics Systems: A Work in Progress

Abstract

Developments in the last decade show that behavioral healthcare informatics systems (BHISs) may interface effectively with medical informatics systems (MISs) and show promise for even more effective integration in the future. This chapter will provide examples of implementation techniques and current interface processes drawn primarily from developments in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). In this chapter, we will concentrate on issues involved in adding BHIS components to an MIS that already exists or interfacing a new MHIS with a separate BHIS. In the process of studying the implementation of evidence-based collaborative care for mental illnesses in VHA, we created a software demonstration module (CHIACC) that provided support for care management of depression and schizophrenia, two very different behavioral conditions with different clinical needs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)