Post-Discharge Mental Health Screening Reduces Future Costs: Study.
Providing mental health care to patients who need it after a hospital stay helps to limit health care costs in the year after the hospital admission, a study co-authored by BUSPH researchers has found.
The findings of the study, published in the journal Psychiatric Services, suggest that hospitals could benefit from screening all inpatients for psychiatric problems and “ensuring that patients with positive screens receive post-discharge mental health care.”
“Results indicate that providing mental health care post-discharge for patients who require it is protective against the increased cost associated with co-morbid mental conditions,” the authors concluded.
The study — led by James F. Burgess, Jr., professor of health policy and management, and colleagues affiliated with Department of Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System — looked at post-discharge health costs for more than 21,000 patients who had a hospital stay for a general medical issue but had not been hospitalized in the prior year. Providing appropriate mental health care in the 30 days after discharge was a factor in lowering medical costs and reducing hospital utilization during the following year, the authors said.
“The intent of this exploratory study was to motivate future research to determine how to structure mental health care associated with general medical treatment, such that subsequent costs can be minimized,” the authors said.
They suggested that primary care could be an “ideal setting” to conduct post-discharge mental health screening, in order to ensure that patients with psychological problems receive treatment. The VA has been instituting mental health screening in primary care clinics, they noted.
Besides Burgess, who also is a senior investigator at VA Boston Healthcare System, authors on the study from VA Boston Healthcare were: Justin K. Benzer, a research assistant professor of health policy and management, Jennifer L. Sullivan, and Sandra Williams.
The full study is available at: http://ps.psychiatryonline.org.ezproxy.bu.edu/data/Journals/PSS/0/ps.201100457.pdf
Submitted by: Lisa Chedekel
chedekel@bu.edu