Is the volume-outcome relationship sustained in psychiatric care?
BACKGROUND
Although much prior research has found a consistently positive volume-outcome relationship, there is scanty documentation on this issue in mental healthcare. This study examines the association between a hospitals' psychiatric inpatient volume and 30-day readmission rates.


METHODS
Using administrative data from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database for 2003, the likelihood of 30-day readmission is examined relative to the hospital's volume of voluntary psychiatric admissions and total bed-days.


RESULTS
As hospital volume increases, so too does the 30-day readmission rates for patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorders.


CONCLUSIONS
The positive volume-outcome relationship in patients suffering from psychiatric disorders suggests a different scenario from the 'practice makes perfect' phenomenon that may underlie the inverse volume-outcome relationship found among most physical disorders, both surgical and medical.
Lee
Hsin-Chien
HC
Dept. of Psychiatry, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Lin
Herng-Ching
HC
D000328:Adult; D001509:Bed Occupancy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006302:Health Services Research; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013624:Taiwan