This can be a useful tool with busy schedules and patients who are uncommunicative or have complex presentations of multiple co-morbidities. During the initial intake, there is a tendency to stop questioning after an initial diagnosis is made thus overlooking coexisting conditions. Identification of co-morbidities may impact the optimal selection of medication and treatment approach. The patient completes the PsychDiagnoser or mini PsychDiagnoser interview independently on the patient s time schedule. The patient may revise any question and the interview may be resumed if the patient must leave before completion.
Patients are aware that diagnostic interviews run on the clinician s schedule.
The patient may not be used to responding quickly to questions and may omit important information in a rushed interview. In a mental health setting, if the PsychDiagnoser or mini PsychDiagnoser interview is given prior to the initial clinical interview, the results can be used to focus and prioritize topics for questioning. This can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the clinical interview. Both PsychDiagnoser and mini PsychDiagnoser provide excellent documentation of the patient s symptoms in a clearly formatted Interview Evaluation report. In primary care this documentation can help support decisions for psychiatric referral or for urgent hospitalization.