Quantifying Time from Medical Clearance to Psychiatric Placement in Hospitalized Patients

Introduction: Patients presenting to the hospital with active psychiatric illness often have concurrent general medical conditions requiring medical clearance before transfer to a psychiatric facility. There may be a time lag from medical clearance to psychiatric placement which could have implications for patient care and hospital capacity constraints. Materials and Methods: We performed a chart review for 106 patients at an academic medical center from June through December of 2020 to determine this time from medical clearance to psychiatric placement (TMCPP). Results: The average TMCPP was 2.1 days with a range of 0 to 13 days, with aggregate time spent awaiting discharge during the 7- month study of 220 days. Conclusion: These delays may contribute to emergency department overcrowding and ultimately result in delays in care across the health care system.