appropriate documentation

Why is appropriate documentation so important?  What is the purpose of data, graphs, and how to they guide treatment selection?

Assignment 1, Discussion 14

Medical data is a very vital service piece for both clients/patients and practitioners. They
document the health, medical needs, well-being, medical necessity, plan of care, and treatments
rendered to the client during their time with a therapist. In behavior analysis, documentation
involves collecting clinical data that inform the direction of treatment and client outcomes,
including the general treatment progress towards achieving the practice goals (Hartley et al.,
2016). With proper documentation, the therapist cab identify red flags in the treatments,
determine the areas of improvement, and mark critical performance indicators. Also, data
determines and supports clinical decisions.
According to Cooper et al. (2007), documentation is the basis for decision making on the
treatment. When the data is properly analyzed, the therapist can know if there is progress in the
treatment or not. Based on the analysis the practitioner can decide whether to modify the
treatment or not. Example of this data is the amount of requests a student makes to take a break
from work, the time a student spends away from her seat, or the number of times a student bangs
his head. The professional can use the data to maintain continuous and direct contact with the
behavior under study (Cooper et al., 2007).