The Veterans Affairs Department awarded a contract to DSS Inc., a healthcare software developer and integrator, to deploy a mental health module for the department's VistA electronic medical record system.
About 50 VA hospitals have tested the mental health set of tools, which guides clinicians in treatment planning and intake documentation specific to mental health settings, making records more accessible and narrative notes more legible.
The application ultimately would be rolled out to all 153 VA medical centers.
The software is designed to integrate mental and behavioral health treatment processes into the VistA workflow, including an interdisciplinary approach to monitoring medication and therapy benefits and adverse effects of care.
It can also be used to track patient progress over time, allowing VA medical centers to monitor evidenced-based psychotherapies and interdisciplinary treatment plans.
The system provides detailed reporting to support users in meeting requirements from the Joint Commission, a hospital accreditation organization, and the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, both of which are non-profit organizations.
