The Veterans Affairs Department plans to develop a kiosk-based system for its mental health clinics that would allow patients who have limited computer literacy or cognitive disabilities to conduct self-assessments of their conditions.
With the audio and Web-based system, patients would sit at kiosks in VA health centers and, using a console and browser, conduct the assessment as part of their routine mental health care.
Information from the Patient Assessment System (PAS) would be converted into a standard data format, incorporated in VA's VistA electronic medical record system and used to generate chart notes for clinicians.
Clinical data is often lacking in electronic medical records related to some illnesses and most psychiatric disorders, a situation that makes it more difficult to improve care, VA said in an announcement. Besides collecting information, the self-assessment system would summarize the findings for the patient and offers healthcare education.
VA said it initially plans to deploy the system at four VA mental health clinics in different regions of the country as part of routine care, including Los Angeles, Honolulu, Washington, D.C., and Albany, N.Y.
The VA is looking for vendors to develop software for the system, according to the May 14 notice on Federal Business Opportunities Web site.
