title: Barriers and strategies for improving communication between inpatient and outpatient mental health clinicians.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore hospital leaders' perceptions of organisational factors as barriers and/or facilitators in improving inpatient-outpatient (IP-OP) communication.
  
  
  METHODS
  Semistructured in-person interviews.
  
  
  METHODS
  Constant comparative method of qualitative data.
  
  
  METHODS
  Inpatient psychiatry units in 33 general medical/surgical and specialty psychiatric hospitals in California and Massachusetts (USA).
  
  
  METHODS
  Psychiatry chair/chief, service director or medical director.
  
  
  METHODS
  Importance to leadership, resources, organisational structure and culture.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A majority of hospital leaders rated the IP-OP communication objective as highly or moderately important. Hospitals with good IP-OP communication had structures in place to support communication or had changed/implemented new procedures to enhance communication, and anticipated clinicians would 'buy in' to the goal of improved communication. Hospitals reporting no improvement efforts were less likely to have structures supporting IP-OP communication, anticipated resistance among clinicians and reported a need for technological resources such as electronic health records, integrated IT and secure online communication. Most leaders reported a need for additional staff time and information, knowledge or data.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  For many hospitals, successfully improving communication will require overcoming organisational barriers such as cultures not conducive to change and lack of resources and infrastructure. Creating a culture that values communication at discharge may help improve outcomes following hospitalisation, but changes in healthcare delivery in the past few decades may necessitate new strategies or changes at the systems level to address barriers to effective communication.
authors: HSR&D Center for the Study of Healthcare Provider Behavior, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, 16111 Plummer Street, Sepulveda, CA 91343, USA. susan.stockdale@va.gov
authors: Susan E
authors: SE
authors: Stockdale
authors: Jonathan E
authors: JE
authors: Sherin
authors: Jeffrey A
authors: JA
authors: Chan
authors: Richard C
authors: RC
authors: Hermann