CONTACT: Carole Szpak202/393-6700, Ext.18[email protected]
EMBARGOED: FOR RELEASE 9am OCTOBER 31, 2000
Report Tracks Behavioral Healthcare Treatment Trends Over a Period of Rapid Change~Admissions Remain Strong, Occupancy Is Up, and Stays Remain Short, NAPHS Annual Survey Finds
(Washington, D.C., October 31, 2000).....The behavioral health delivery system for people suffering from mental and addictive disorders continued to evolve at a rapid pace in 1999, according to data released today by the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems (NAPHS) in The NAPHS 2000 Annual Survey Report -- Trends in Behavioral Healthcare Systems: A Benchmarking Report.
"Resources remain exceedingly tight for behavioral health care," said NAPHS Executive Director Mark Covall, "and behavioral health caregivers are working harder with limited resources. Community access to aftercare services (such as outpatient care and partial hospitalization) is becoming an increasing concern," he said. "As documented in this survey, providers have focused attention on developing treatment approaches that respond to payers' increasing demands for shorter stays, lower costs, and expanded access to care. With continued reductions in lengths of stay, hospitals now focus on stabilizing patients and discharging them to outpatient care as soon as possible. However, outpatient care has not grown to the degree necessary to adequately provide the care required for the most severely ill patients. The challenge for the future will be to ensure that all levels of care receive adequate support and funding so that individuals with the most severe mental illnesses will receive effective care.Ó
Within the hospital setting, lengths of stay remain very brief. Average length of stay for all age groups was 10.2 days in 1999, the same as 1997. Over the same period, median lengths of stay declined, from 9.4 days in 1997 to 9.2 days in 1999. The continuing downward pressure on lengths of stay is part of a dramatic shift in the role of hospitals toward a stabilization model. Over the past decade, average hospital lengths of stay plummeted 60.1%, going from 25.6 days in 1990 to the current 10.2 days.
NAPHS members treat significant numbers of patients. A typical hospital in 1999 saw an average of 1,831 inpatients, up 4.9% over 1997.
Hospital occupancy increased 14.3% between 1997 and 1999, from 54.5% in 1997 to 62.3% in 1999.
Ambulatory services are an important part of the care provided. Partial hospital programs admitted an average of 507 individuals in 1999 (up slightly from 504 in 1997). Average partial hospital visits increased 6.4% over a two-year period (from 6,658 in 1997 to 7,088 visits in 1999).
The average number of regular and intensive outpatient admissions declined (from 2,080 in 1997 to 1,390 in 1999). However, average outpatient visits per facility increased 6.8% (from 19,027 visits in 1997 to 20,332 in 1999). The average number of outpatient visits for a typical patient increased to 12.4 days in 1999 (vs. 9.8 days in 1997) -- an indication of the severity of patients now managed in outpatient settings.
NAPHS members provide significant care for the Medicaid and Medicare populations. These government programs accounted for 40.9% of all 1999 inpatient admissions.
The report is $400--prepaid--from NAPHS, 325 Seventh Street, NW, Suite 625, Washington, DC 20004-2802, phone: 202/393-6700.
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