title: The quality of psychiatric emergency evaluations and patient outcomes in county hospitals.
abstract: Quality of care is widely assumed to be related to patient outcomes, but little is known about care in relation to outcomes in county general hospital psychiatric emergency services. It was hypothesized that conformity to professional standards (technical quality) and engagement of the patient (artful care) in psychiatric emergency services evaluations would contribute to improved patient functioning (Global Assessment Scale score) and appropriate disposition. A total of 583 cases in seven facilities were analyzed. Conformity to technical standards of care was associated with retention even after constraints, biases, and admission criteria had been taken into account. Conversely, artful care was associated with lower probability of retention and improved functioning.
authors.affiliation: Mental Health and Social Welfare Research Group, University of California, Berkeley 94720, USA.
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Segal
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Egley
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Goldfinger
mesh_terms: D002140:California; D002983:Clinical Competence; D004637:Emergency Services, Psychiatric / Q000592:standards*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006760:Hospitalization; D006766:Hospitals, County / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011787:Quality of Health Care