Patterns of care in general hospitals for patients with psychiatric diagnoses. Some findings and some cautions.

Patients with psychiatric diagnoses in general hospitals in New Jersey in 1985 with and without dedicated psychiatric units are compared. Unit and nonunit bed occupants are compared also in hospitals having dedicated units. Types of referral, case-mix, length of stay, co-morbidity, transfer to other settings, and social characteristics of patients vary by type of bed. Patients in scatter beds have relatively low lengths of stay, rarely are attended by a psychiatrist and have more CAT scans and EEGs for almost every diagnostic group. These data suggest the critical need for clinical studies of quality of care in varying psychiatric inpatient settings.