Psychiatrists New Role on Medical Ward Care Teams

The gap between physical and mental healthcare is starting to be bridged thanks to a number of hospitals in the United States which are trying out a new pilot program. In the past, ‪psychiatrists‬ saw patients on medical units only as consultants, when called upon by other physicians after a mental health crisis emerged such as the development of ‪delirium‬ or when a patient becomes difficult to manage. However, with this new project, psychiatrists are an integral member of medical ward teams, including those in the ‪ICU‬.
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By including psychiatrists on these medical teams, they have the opportunity to round on all the patients on the unit, helping to identify and tackle mental or emotional health problems early on, provide bedside ‪psychotherapy‬ and support, and offering much needed input regarding medications and other modalities to use and avoid in order to prevent the development or worsening of ‪‎mental health‬ issues.

While the hospitals are currently studying the impact of this new program, early data has shown that by having psychiatrists on the medical wards length of stay in hospital can be shortened, and they further postulate that these new teams may even reduce the chance that patients may need to be readmitted.

For the full article, click here:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/hospitals-test-putting-psychiatrists-on-medical-wards-1461604767

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