Critical requirements for a psychiatry EHR

The demand for mental health services has become a critical area of need in the American health care system. A 2018 survey reported that about 56% of American adults had sought or wanted to seek mental health treatment, and access barriers remain significant.

More recent reviews and workforce briefs continue to show provider shortages and access gaps, particularly in rural and underserved communities.

Psychiatric practices play a vital role in meeting the population’s mental health care needs. Patients seen in psychiatry often present with complex, co-occurring physical and behavioral conditions (for example, diabetes or heart disease with a comorbid mood disorder) that require coordinated, longitudinal care.

As a result, a psychiatry practice’s patient population needs services that are efficiently coordinated and monitored. A purpose-built psychiatry EHR (or an EHR configured for behavioral health) helps clinicians coordinate care, manage medications, and track outcomes when selection teams match requirements to capabilities.

Finding the critical requirements for a psychiatry EHR

A practice’s EHR needs will generally be dictated by the needs of its patient population and the type of clinical data generated by treating those patients.

Psychiatry practices require the core functionality offered by general practice EHRs (charting, scheduling, billing) plus specialty features designed for mental health workflows (psychiatric assessments, rating scales, structured treatment plans, and behavior-health friendly templates).

Compare psychiatric EHR software with our free specialist behavioral health EHR comparison tool

Below are five critical requirements a modern psychiatry EHR should meet.

1. Interoperability

Psychiatry practices overwhelmingly serve patients receiving care from other providers. The EHR must be able to share clinical information securely and bidirectionally (receive and send) so that psychiatrists, PCPs, specialists, and emergency departments have the data they need to coordinate care.

Interoperability reduces duplicated tests, prevents missing medication histories, and supports collaborative management of chronic conditions. Look for standards-based interfaces (FHIR, CCD/CCDA, e-referral capabilities) and a vendor track record of real integrations.

2. Medication management and monitoring

Medication safety is central in psychiatry. The EHR should include integrated e-prescribing with support for EPCS (electronic prescribing of controlled substances), clinical decision support for drug–drug and drug–disease interactions, allergy checks, and a consolidated medication list that draws data from other providers where possible.

Because substance use disorders and polypharmacy are common in psychiatric populations, real-time alerts, PDMP (prescription drug monitoring program) access, and medication reconciliation workflows are essential.

3. Patient engagement tools

Patient engagement in psychiatry supports adherence and continuity. A psychiatry EHR should provide a secure patient portal with messaging, online scheduling, intake form completion, outcome measurement (PROMs), and (where appropriate) medication refill workflows.

These tools reduce administrative friction, help lower no-show rates, and support remote monitoring between visits. Design choices should favor privacy controls and easy patient access (mobile-friendly) while meeting clinical documentation needs.

4. Telemedicine/telepsychiatry integration

Telepsychiatry is now a mainstream care delivery channel and should be integrated into the EHR rather than bolted on as a separate tool.

The American Psychiatric Association notes that video- and audio-based telepsychiatry improves access and patient satisfaction and can produce comparable clinical outcomes when implemented correctly.

An effective psychiatry EHR will integrate scheduling, the video encounter, documentation templates, billing codes, and consent/verification workflows so remote visits are seamless and audit-ready.

Also consider whether the vendor supports phone-only visits (important for patients with limited bandwidth) and whether telehealth documentation flows automatically into the chart.

5. Regulatory compliance 

Psychiatry practices must comply with HIPAA and other privacy laws; many also must navigate additional rules for behavioral health and substance use records (for example, 42 CFR Part 2, where applicable).

Select an EHR with robust data segmentation and consent management, secure messaging, audit trails, and documentation that supports medical necessity and billing audits. If you e-prescribe controlled substances or use telepsychiatry, confirm the vendor supports EPCS, PDMP integration, and state-level telehealth licensure and prescribing rules.

Final thoughts

Although general practice and psychiatry EHRs share many features, psychiatry practices benefit most from software configured for behavioral health workflows.

When assembling your requirements, let your patient population, clinical workflows, and regulatory obligations guide the selection, then validate vendor claims with demos, reference checks, and short pilot testing.

A well-chosen psychiatry EHR will streamline documentation, improve medication safety, expand access through telepsychiatry, and make coordinated care easier for clinicians and patients alike.