Discharge Planning Improves Engagement With Psychiatric Care, Study Finds

Regardless of a patient ’s level of engagement in psychiatric care prior to being hospitalized, having an appointment scheduled when discharged from the hospital may increase the likelihood that the patient receives follow-up care, according to astudy published yesterday inPsychiatric Services.“In the United States, 42%−51% of adults and 31%−45% of youths do not attend mental health visits within 30 days after discharge,” which can increase the risk of relapse, rehospitalization, and death, wrote Thomas Smith, M.D., of the New York State Psychiatric Institute and colleagues. “Pa tients who were not engaged in psychiatric care before admission are much more likely to fail to transition to outpatient care after inpatient psychiatric discharge.”Smith and colleagues used data from four sources, including the New York state Medicaid claims records and the 2012-2013 New York state Managed Behavioral Healthcare Organization Discharge File, which was created to review discharge planning practices related to inpatient psychiatric admissions. The 18,793 participants were Medicaid enrollees under 65 years old who were admitted to an inpatient psychiatric unit from 2012 to 2013 with a principal diagnosis of a mental disorder and had an inpatient stay of no more than 60 days before being discharged. The study ’s primary outcome was whether the patient attended an outpatient psychiatric visit within either seven or 30 days after discharge.The researchers compared the outcom...

Source: Psychiatr News - June 24, 2021 Category: Psychiatry Tags: engagement follow-up care hospitalization outpatient visit Psychiatric Services in Advance Source Type: research