The problem‐oriented system and record keeping in the behavioral therapies

The Problem‐Oriented System (POS) provides systematic guidelines for health care record keeping. Behavioral therapy records share, with health care records in general, a quality of inadequacy for contemporary needs. Likewise, behavior therapy training shares with other health care training inadequate attention to record‐keeping. This conclusion arises from a search of recent journals and books concerned with behavior therapy issues. This article reviews the POS and proposes that its guidelines and advantages are suited for incorporation into behavioral therapy training. The expected result of such training should be records more amenable to audit or review for such purposes as third party payment, supervision, and peer review. Research is needed to help select the record‐keeping training methods that would best meet these contemporary needs for increased quality in the documentation of health care provision.