Guidelines for discharge from inpatient mental health treatment?

[deleted760483]

Hello All -

I work for an organization that provides inpatient mental health treatment. Relatively soon I will have an opportunity to meet with members of administration to discuss opportunities for long term improvement. One of my biggest concerns at present is how we handle the discharge process from inpatient treatment. Patients are typically simply given an appointment with a psychiatrist 1 to 2 months after the date of release, and no other referrals. This is completely incongruent with the process at other practices/facilities I have worked at and is my biggest concern at present, but administration will want some type of official guidelines or criteria, likely from an insurance company, rather than just my opinions about what should be done. I have been looking hard for such guidelines and thus far have come up blank. Is anyone aware of such guidelines, documented in a somewhat official format? Thank you!

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[pediatric_psydoc]

Some guidelines from Oregon: https://www.oahhs.org/assets/documents/files/MHGuidelinesF.pdf

I found this article to be the most relevant: Discharge planning and Mental Healthcare Act 2017

From Cigna: https://apps.cignabehavioral.com/ci...ndResourceCenter/medicalNecessityCriteria.pdf

 

[PsyDr]

Federal guidelines, cms guidelines, jcaho guidelines, cfr stuff.

If you go into this meeting without having all of the relevant federal laws, you’re going to look unprofessional. And you’re likely going to come up against someone who has paid thousands just to get this specialized knowledge

 

[MAClinician]

Agree with @PsyDr . Most (all?) behavioral health providers have to be credentialed by the insurance companies including CMS for Medicare and Medicaid. There should be credentials criteria and provider performance specifications. In my state the Department of Mental Health licenses all inpatient facilities and has regulations that need to be followed that are on the DMH website for my state. Seems disturbing that your facility only discharges with a psychiatric appointment and nothing else. Hope the meeting goes well and change can result from it.

 

[temppsych123]

Recent guidelines from the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention re: addressing post-discharge suicide risk (which is extremely high): Best Practices in Care Transitions for Individuals with Suicide Risk: Inpatient Care to Outpatient Care | National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention