Electronic Health Record Documentation of Psychiatric Assessments in Massachusetts Emergency Department and Outpatient Settings During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic
Víctor M. Castro, Roy H. Perlis
Abstract
electronic health records from 2 large academic medical centers and 3 affiliated community hospitals in Massachusetts to investigate the documentation of psychiatric symptoms in narrative clinical notes as COVID-19 activity increased in eastern Massachusetts. Methods This cohort study included all individuals seen in outpatient or emergency department visits between January 2 and March 25, 2020. Sociodemographic data, including age, sex, race, and ethnicity, were drawn from the Partners Research Patient Data Registry 5 along with narrative clinical notes. Presence of depression, anxiety, suicide, psychosis, and violence was determined by identifying terms drawn from an expert-curated list associated with National Institute of Mental Health Research Domain Criteria. 6 These terms included depressed, depressive, dysphoric, dysthymic, sad, and tearful for depression;