Using electronic health records to improve the physical healthcare of people with serious mental illnesses: a view from the front lines.

Individuals with serious mental illnesses (SMI) treated in the public mental health sector die decades younger than the general population. Poor quality and fragmentation of care are risk factors underlying the poor health of this population. Integrated electronic health records (EHR) can play a vital role in efforts to improve quality and outcomes of care in patients with SMI. The objective of this paper is to describe the current state of efforts to integrate and improve the mental and physical care of individuals with SMI in the public sector, with an emphasis on the use of electronic health records (EHR). While a range of encouraging initiatives exists throughout the country, technological and medico-legal challenges are providing significant barriers for the successful integration of care and EHRs for many partnering organizations. Furthermore, there is a lack of rigorous research studying the effectiveness and sustainability of these programmes. Recommendations are made for the alleviation of policy barriers and future areas of inquiry.