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Need for Psychiatric Inpatient Services Continues to Grow, NAPHS Annual Survey Finds

The need for psychiatric services in inpatient hospitals continues to grow, according to the latest annual survey from the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems (NAPHS) released July 1. The survey reports 2013 data that was collected in 2014 from NAPHS-member organizations. Data were analyzed and reported by Dobson DaVanzo & Associates, LLC, of Vienna, VA.

Trended admissions and days of care in inpatient hospitals have increased over the past year (while inpatient length of stay has remained constant), the survey reports. To accommodate for increased utilization in inpatient facilities, both occupancy and bed size increased from 2012 to 2013. Inpatient occupancy increased 0.3%, while the number of set-up and staffed beds in inpatient facilities increased 5.2% from 2012 to 2013.

"While trended inpatient days of care increased by 6.5% since 2012, outpatient services also showed growth with the average number of outpatient visits in 2013 increasing by 4.4% since the prior year," notes NAPHS President and CEO Mark Covall in the report.

Conversely, the average number of partial hospitalization visits decreased 5.1% from 2012 to 2013. Trended utilization days of psychiatric services in residential treatment centers also decreased (a decrease of 4.6%) from 2012 to 2013, with members reporting a lower number of admissions (a decrease of 16.0% from 2012) but a longer average length of stay (an increase of 3.9% from 2012).

The report provides two distinct views of behavioral health care delivery. One chapter provides a trend analysis that looks at changes from year to year in NAPHS-member hospitals and residential treatment centers reporting over a two-year period. Another chapter provides national averages to give a snapshot of members' experiences in the reporting year. This chapter also presents selected data by set-up-and-staffed bed categories to help organizations compare their own experiences to those of facilities of a similar size. Data drawn from other major studies is also presented in the Annual Survey to provide context on the prevalence of behavioral conditions.

The report is $400—prepaid—from the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems, 900 17th Street, NW, Suite 420, Washington, DC 20006-2507. MasterCard, Visa, and American Express are accepted. Call 202-393-6700, ext. 105, for ordering information or see www.naphs.org under "Resources."

--Source: National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems