Title
"Anyplace but the state hospital": examining assumptions about the benefits of admission diversion
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Psychiatry
Publication Date
1991-02-01
Document Type
Article
Subjects
Community Mental Health Centers; Continuity of Patient Care; Crisis Intervention; *Deinstitutionalization; Emergency Services, Psychiatric; Hospitals, State; Humans; Mental Disorders; *Patient Transfer; United States
Disciplines
Health Services Research | Mental and Social Health | Psychiatric and Mental Health | Psychiatry | Psychiatry and Psychology
Abstract
One function of contemporary psychiatric emergency services is to divert patient admissions from state hospitals. Underlying this mandate are a series of untested assumptions about the positive effects of admission diversion. The author examines these assumptions using data on inpatient admissions from a crisis intervention service. Although the service was successful in preventing first admissions to the state hospital, the rate of recidivist admissions increased. Inpatient treatment in general or private hospitals did not result in shorter lengths of stay or fewer bed days than state hospital treatment. Because patients could be sent to any of several hospitals, some located far from the catchment area, continuity of care and treatment in the local community were not advanced by diverting admissions from the state hospital.
Source
Hosp Community Psychiatry. 1991 Feb;42(2):145-52.
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Hospital and community psychiatry
Related Resources
PubMed ID
1997363
Repository Citation
Geller, Jeffrey L., ""Anyplace but the state hospital": examining assumptions about the benefits of admission diversion" (1991). Systems and Psychosocial Advances Research Center Publications and Presentations. 159.
https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/psych_cmhsr/159
