Computerized patient information system in a psychiatric unit: five-year experience.

A computerized psychiatric clinical application based on CLICKS program was developed, consisting of a network of 34 personal computers, run by Novell Netware version 3.11. It includes all clinical records and covers most of the administrative needs of the department; it may be used also in the outpatient clinics. Implementation of the system followed the stages of planning, record structuring, record programming, practice and operation. The system is favorably accepted by the patients, has several important advantages over pencil and paper record keeping, and although it is slightly more time-consuming, it improves record quality and departmental efficiency.