ECRI issues recommendations on safely integrating IT with behavioral health screening

Editor's Note

ECRI’s Partnership for Health IT Patient Safety and the Electronic Health Record Association, on February 8, released a white paper with five safe practice recommendations and strategies that focus on health IT’s role in screening, documenting, and sharing of information for patients with behavioral health needs.

Studies in the white paper indicate that when tools for behavioral health screening are embedded in the electronic health record, screening rates increase.

The uncertainties of COVID-19, limited patient and provider resources, and the increase in telehealth visits highlight the need to ensure that patients with behavioral health needs don’t fall through the cracks, ECRI says.