Monitoring inpatient length of stay in a community mental health center.

The authors assess their experience with reviewing the length of stay of inpatients in a mental health facility. The study yielded data that refine the review process and suggest a rationale for selection of cases for review that may have educational value both to the admitting staff and physician-reviewers. The authors urge experimentation with length of stay norms which reflect specified treatment protocols related to diagnosis, rather than reliance on diagnosis alone.