Patient-controlled admission contracts: a longitudinal study of patient evaluations

Abstract

Background: Mental health professionals usually decide patients' access to inpatient care to ensure care based on need and potential benefit. The purpose of the current study is to investigate how patients evaluate admissions under a contract of Patient-Controlled Admissions (PCA), where the patient could initiate 5 day stays at a community mental health center at their own discretion.

Methods: Patients with a PCA contract in 2011 and 2012 were invited to participate in the study. Staff first recorded clinical baseline values for patients. Towards the end of each PCA stay, staff conducted a structured discharge interview of the admission with the patient. A structured follow-up interview evaluating the PCA arrangement 2 years after inclusion was also performed. We report frequencies from data on PCA requests, PCA admissions and the 2 year evaluation interview, and we used multiple regression models to explore predictors of perceived helpfulness and improvement from the PCA admissions.

Results: The included patients (n = 74) made 628 requests for PCAs during the 2 years after inclusion, and 507 PCAs took place. The five-day limit could not be upheld in 7.5% of PCAs. Patients rated PCAs as helping considerably (33.1%), a good deal (30.4%) or somewhat (21.1%), and reported feeling considerably (15.2%), a good deal (26.2%) or somewhat (36.3%) better during the admission. Significant predictors of helpfulness and feeling better were socializing more during the stay and reporting higher motivation to get away from a difficult situation or getting to the ward safety and calmness. A diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum or bipolar disorder and more services from mental health specialist care also predicted feeling better during the PCA. In the two-year follow-up interview, 90% rated themselves as very or quite satisfied, and more than 90% would recommend PCAs to others.

Conclusions: The PCA arrangement was feasible and was frequently utilized by patients. Patients were satisfied with PCAs and the PCA arrangement. These short stays seemed particularly helpful for patients with a more severe diagnosis. Strong patient satisfaction gives reasons for testing and implementing increased patient influence on the mental health admission procedures in the form of PCAs.

Keywords: Admission procedures; Inpatient care; Mental health care; Patient autonomy; Severe mental disorders; User participation.

Conflict of interest statement

Ruud is a member of the editorial board of BMC Health Services Research. Šaltytė Benth and Nyttingnes declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1

Recruitment, consent, withdrawal, missing data, and analyzed samples

Fig. 2

Patient evaluation of the patient-controlled admission arrangement 2 years after enrollment. Sixty-one patients were available for this follow-up, and they left a total of 37 answers missing (6.7%). a The leftmost alternative; “I have not been satisfied with this offer” was not chosen by any patient. b The leftmost alternative; “No, not at all” was not chosen by any patient