Shortening length of stay without increasing recidivism on a university-affiliated inpatient unit.
The impact of reducing length of stay on readmission rates was examined for privately insured patients treated on a traditional inpatient unit or in an alternatives program with a shorter stay and a continuum of acute care. Billing data were analyzed for length of stay and readmission rates for all admissions between 1985 and 1992 (N = 1,363). The traditional unit was reorganized in 1990 into the alternatives program. Although the program decreased mean length of stay from 20.2 days to 6.2 full-day equivalents, overall readmission rates did not increase (17.2 percent, compared with 18.6 percent for the traditional unit). Rates increased for a subgroup of patients with psychotic disorders (from 13.7 to 35.2 percent).
Thomas
M R
MR
Department of Psychiatry, Colorado Psychiatric Hospital, University of Colorado Health Science Center, Denver 80220, USA.
Rosenberg
S A
SA
Giese
A A
AA
Fryer
G E
GE
Dubovsky
S L
SL
Shore
J H
JH
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011567:Psychiatric Department, Hospital; D012189:Retrospective Studies