What is Mental Health Software?

Mental health software is software that helps manage mental health issues. Both professionals and patients can use this software and benefit from it. Professionals might use the software to help manage patient cases and their practices' operations, and patients can use the software to monitor their emotional states.

Professionals can find the use of mental health software advantageous to their practices. They might use the software to create reports, calculate research statistics and streamline operations within their practices. The software can be particularly useful with research statistics, as they help facilitate research tests such as T-tests, multiple regression and analysis of variance (ANOVAs). Variables also can be calculated easily using this software.

In addition, professionals can use mental health software to manage client treatment. Professionals can rely on the software to devise a course of treatment, maintain progress notes and generate case reports. Lab reports also can be accessed, monitored and viewed through the software. The software can work in conjunction with professional manuals and protocols, such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), to help diagnose diseases and disorders.

This software also can help the technical operations of a practice. Billing, insurance claim forms, scheduling, appointments, payment processing and electronic signatures can be handled through the use of this software. Doctors can prescribe medications through the software. A benefit of using software to manage and prescribe medications is that prescriptions can be submitted electronically, saving time and reducing the chances of error.

Patients commonly use mental health software to monitor and manage their emotions. This can be part of a self-help regimen, or it can be recommended by therapists as part of treatment. The software lets patients record their emotions as they happen and add details about the source of their emotions. Later, the recorded information can be reviewed by patients and therapists to help track their emotional health. Reports generated by the software, including graphs that can clearly illustrate changes in emotions between days or weeks, can provide a clearer picture of a person's emotional state.

The cost for mental health software can vary. It will depend, at least in part, on how the software is used and who uses it. Some mental health software, however, can be available as a free download. Free software is more likely to be patient-centric. Software that is used by professionals usually will cost money to purchase or use.