The effects of state psychiatric hospital waitlist policies on length of stay and time to readmission.
Journal Article (Journal Article)
This study examined the effects of a waitlist policy for state psychiatric hospitals on length of stay and time to readmission using data from North Carolina for 2004-2010. Cox proportional hazards models tested the hypothesis that patients were discharged "quicker-but-sicker" post-waitlist, as hospitals struggled to manage admission delays and quickly admit waitlisted patients. Results refute this hypothesis, indicating that waitlists were associated with increased length of stay and time to readmission. Further research is needed to evaluate patients' clinical outcomes directly and to examine the impact of state hospital waitlists in other areas, such as state hospital case mix, local emergency departments, and outpatient mental health agencies.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Holdsworth La, E; Zhu, R; Hassmiller Lich, K; Ellis, AR; Swartz, MS; Kosorok, MR; Morrissey, JP
Published Date
- May 2015
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 42 / 3
Start / End Page
- 332 - 342
PubMed ID
- 24965771
Pubmed Central ID
- PMC5201314
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
- 1573-3289
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1007/s10488-014-0573-1
Language
- eng
Conference Location
- United States