title: A quality improvement project to decrease the length of stay on a psychiatric adolescent partial hospital program.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Clinicians are challenged to treat adolescents with life-threatening behaviors while accessing fewer mental health resources with increased utilization management pressures.
  
  
  METHODS
  Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills training groups were implemented as a quality improvement project to decrease the length of stay on an adolescent psychiatric partial hospital program by reducing potential life-threatening behaviors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average length of stay decreased nearly 5 days during the project. Potential life-threatening urges seemed to increase from pretreatment findings while life-threatening actions appeared to decrease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  While the findings were inconclusive regarding the actual effect on life-threatening urges and behaviors, dialectical behavior therapy skills training groups may have positive outcomes on an adolescent psychiatric partial hospital program.
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Bayview's Adolescent Intensive Outpatient Program, Baltimore, MD, USA. bmemel1@jhmi.edu
authors.forename: Brenda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Memel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000296:Adolescent Psychiatry / Q000379:methods*; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D015397:Program Evaluation; D058996:Quality Improvement; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior