Emergency Department Length-Of-Stay For Psychiatric Visits Was Significantly Longer Than For Nonpsychiatric Visits, 2002-11

Jane M Zhu; Astha Singhal; Renee Y Hsia

doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2016.0344

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Emergency Department Length-Of-Stay For Psychiatric Visits Was Significantly Longer Than For Nonpsychiatric Visits, 2002-11

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Emergency Department Length-Of-Stay For Psychiatric Visits Was Significantly Longer Than For Nonpsychiatric Visits, 2002-11

Jane M Zhu, Astha Singhal and Renee Y Hsia

Health affairs Web exclusive, Vol.35(9), pp.1698-1706

09/01/2016

DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2016.0344

PMID: 27605653

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Abstract

Despite increases in the use of emergency department (EDs) for mental health care, there are limited data on whether psychiatric patients disproportionately contribute to ED crowding. We conducted a retrospective analysis using a national database of ED visits in the period 2002-11 to describe trends in median and ninetieth-percentile length-of-stay for patients with psychiatric versus nonpsychiatric primary diagnoses. Psychiatric patients who visited the ED were transferred to another facility at six times the rate of nonpsychiatric patients. Median lengths-of-stay were similar for psychiatric and nonpsychiatric patients among those who were admitted to the hospital (264 versus 269 minutes) but significantly different for those who were admitted for observation (355 versus 279 minutes), transferred (312 versus 195 minutes), or discharged (189 versus 144 minutes). Overall, differences in ED length-of-stay between psychiatric and nonpsychiatric patients did not narrow over time. These findings suggest deficiencies in ED capacity for psychiatric care, which may necessitate improvements in both throughput and alternative models of care.

United States

Adult

Aged

Cross-Sectional Studies

Emergency Service, Hospital - utilization

Female

Humans

Length of Stay - statistics & numerical data

Male

Mental Disorders - diagnosis

Mental Disorders - therapy

Middle Aged

Patient Discharge - statistics & numerical data

Retrospective Studies

Time Factors

Young Adult

Details

Title: Subtitle: Emergency Department Length-Of-Stay For Psychiatric Visits Was Significantly Longer Than For Nonpsychiatric Visits, 2002-11
Creators: Jane M Zhu - University of Pennsylvania
Astha Singhal - Boston University
Renee Y Hsia - University of California, San Francisco
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Health affairs Web exclusive, Vol.35(9), pp.1698-1706
DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2016.0344
PMID: 27605653
ISSN: 0278-2715
eISSN: 1544-5208
Language: English
Date published: 09/01/2016
Academic Unit: Public Policy Center (Archive)
Record Identifier: 9984283855202771

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