Complexity Interventions Units in the United States: Organization and Dispersion

Integrated Care for Complicated Patients: A Role for Combined Training and Practice

Patients with chronic medical disease frequently have comorbid psychiatric illness, yet mental and physical healthcare is frequently siloed in the United States. Integrated behavioral healthcare models, such as medicine-psychiatry services, are feasible, improve patient outcomes, and reduce costs. The Duke University Hospital medicine-psychiatry service provides holistic patient care and serves as a model for those interested in developing combined services or training programs elsewhere. Combined residency training in psychiatry is a way to provide a workforce of physician-scientist educators adept at providing coordinated, integrated care for complex patients with comorbid illness.

Specialty Psychiatric Services in US Emergency Departments and General Hospitals: Results From a Nationwide Survey

OBJECTIVE

To explore the handling of psychiatric patients in medical hospitals and emergency departments (EDs) as well as hospital characteristics associated with the availability of psychiatric services in these settings.

METHODS

From October 1, 2017, to April 1, 2018, a telephone survey regarding the presence and nature of psychiatric services was attempted among all US registered Medicare hospitals.

RESULTS

Of the included 4812 US hospitals, 2394 (50%) were surveyed. Of these hospitals, 1108 (46%) have some psychiatric services available, either in medical EDs or through psychiatric consultation on general medical inpatient wards. If medical ED patients with active psychiatric issues need admission, 59% of hospitals transfer the patient to a different hospital and 28% admit the patient to a medical ward. Exploration by logistic regression analysis of the association of selected variables and available psychiatric expertise suggested that larger hospitals, nonprofit services, or hospitals in urban settings were more likely to have psychiatrists on staff or available for consultation.

CONCLUSION

Despite the growing number of psychiatric patients seeking help in medical EDs and general hospitals, more than 50% of the EDs and general hospitals lack psychiatric services. These results suggest that accessibility to psychiatric care in medical settings requires improvement.