title: What, why, and how of consultation-liaison psychiatry. An analysis of the consultation process in the 1990s at five urban teaching hospitals.
abstract: There is controversy about the role and function of a consultation-liaison (C-L) psychiatrist, as reflected in the ongoing debate about what to call ourselves. To clarify the essential elements of our function, the authors analyzed the process and content of the entire consultation experience from the time of initial consultation to the time of discharge in 50 patients across 5 urban teaching hospitals. The common components of the C-L process, in this pilot study, were identified to be facilitative, consensus-seeking, and interpretative. Implications of these findings for the C-L psychiatrist's role in the general hospital are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, MCP, Hahnemann School of Medicine, Allegheny University of the Health Sciences, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19129, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ramchandani
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Lamdan
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: O'Dowd
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Boland
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hails
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ball
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Schindler
mesh_terms: D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D011570:Psychiatry; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D014505:Urban Population