THE QUALITY OF PSYCHIATRIC EMERGENCY EVALUATIONS AND PATIENT OUTCOMESIN COUNTY HOSPITALS

Quality of care is widely assumed to be related to patient outcomes, b ut little is known about care in relation to outcomes in county genera l hospital psychiatric emergency services. It was hypothesized that co nformity to professional standards (technical quality) and engagement of the patient (artful care) in psychiatric emergency services evaluat ions would contribute to improved patient functioning (Global Assessme nt Scale score) and appropriate disposition. A total of 583 cases in s even facilities were analyzed. Conformity to technical standards of ca re was associated with retention even after constraints, biases, and a dmission criteria had been taken into account. Conversely, artful care was associated with lower probability of retention and improved funct ioning.