Connected Care Paths for Outpatient Clinic

Partner

University Hospital – Department of Psychiatry

Environment

An academic medical center providing outpatient mental health services to a diverse, complex patient population. Care teams include psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, psychiatric nurses, social workers and research coordinators, all collaborating across multiple subspecialty clinics.

The Challenge

Prior to adopting dotbase, the Department of Psychiatry faced several critical obstacles:

• Inconsistent Diagnostic Documentation: Clinicians used free‐text notes or paper based documentation, leading to high variability.‍
• Lack of Standardized Instruments: Rating scales (e.g., GAF, HAMD, SOPS) were administered ad hoc, often on paper or via external tools, resulting in poor data capture and integration.
• Data Loss Across Visits: Risk of missing prior assessments when patients saw different providers, as historical scores were buried in narrative notes or lost between EHR modules.
• Difficulty Tracking Long-Term Outcomes: No unified longitudinal view made it hard to spot symptom trajectories, medication adherence patterns or early warning signs of relapse.

The Solution: dotbase Implementation

Over a six‐month rollout, dotbase was configured and embedded within the hospital’s existing EHR ecosystem. Key components included:

1. Structured SCID & ICD Interview Templates
   • Branching logic guided clinicians through diagnostic criteria.
   • Mandatory fields ensured no critical symptom domains were skipped.
2. Embedded Rating Scales
   • GAF, HAMD, PANSS and SOPS seamlessly integrated into each follow-up workflow.
   • Automated scoring calculated subscale and total scores in real time.
3. Customizable Clinical Modules
   • Teams could create specialty modules (e.g., psychiatry research protocols, cognitive screening) without IT intervention.
4. Longitudinal Patient Dashboards
   • At-a-glance graphs display symptom scores, medication changes and appointment adherence over time.
5. Role‐Based Access & Collaboration
   • Secure messaging thread ties notes, lab results and external reports to each visit.

Measurable Results

• Inter-Rater Reliability Improved: Diagnostic agreement shifted from moderate to substantial consistency across clinicians.‍
• Patient Follow-Up Adherence Increased: Automated reminders and score-triggered outreach became possible.
• Cross-Team Communication Streamlined: Shared dashboards and secure messaging cut coordination time for case hand-offs, accelerating collaborative decision-making.
• Research Data Quality Strengthened: The proportion of complete, timestamped digital records climbed dramatically, underpinning new peer-reviewed studies and grant proposals.

Conclusion

By aligning clinical workflows with evidence-based tools, dotbase transformed the University Psychiatry Department’s outpatient services. Structured templates, embedded rating scales and longitudinal dashboards not only standardized care delivery but also fortified the bridge between clinical practice and research—elevating both patient outcomes and scientific insight.

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