Abstract
Background
Although much prior research has found a consistently positive volume-outcome relationship, there is scanty documentation on this issue in mental healthcare. This study examines the association between a hospitals’ psychiatric inpatient volume and 30-day readmission rates.
Methods
Using administrative data from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database for 2003, the likelihood of 30-day readmission is examined relative to the hospital’s volume of voluntary psychiatric admissions and total bed-days.
Results
As hospital volume increases, so too does the 30-day readmission rates for patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorders.
Conclusions
The positive volume-outcome relationship in patients suffering from psychiatric disorders suggests a different scenario from the ‘practice makes perfect’ phenomenon that may underlie the inverse volume-outcome relationship found among most physical disorders, both surgical and medical.
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Lee, HC., Lin, HC. Is the volume-outcome relationship sustained in psychiatric care?. Soc Psychiat Epidemiol 42, 669–672 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-007-0214-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-007-0214-z