Abstract
Several factors have combined to make planning for acute psychiatric inpatient services an important concern of health planners. We report on a nationwide survey of the planning methods used by state health planning agencies to certify need for acute psychiatric services. The results indicate that very few state agencies have developed sophisticated planning methods. The majority use simple bed-to-population ratios, which vary widely from state to state, or rely on past utilization to predict future demands. One-fourth of the states have no method for determining need. The implications of these findings for informed, meaningful planning of psychiatric services are discussed.
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The authors wish to thank Sarita Ward and Steve Walfish for their comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript.
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Goplerud, E.N., Guillemette, M. Planning acute psychiatric services: A survey of current practice. Community Ment Health J 21, 65–73 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00754367
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00754367