General medical care external hospitalizations for patients in Texas state mental health hospitals

Abstract

We explored the characteristics of general medical hospital admissions for patients in state mental health hospitals. Data were extracted from a statewide database of all hospital discharges for 5 years identified as general medical hospital admissions that occurred during the stay of patients at state mental health hospitals. Across the 9 mental health hospitals in the state system, rates of admission to general medical hospitals varied significantly from 0.7% to 3.7%. On average, of the 1.9% of all state mental health inpatients who had a general hospital admission, 25% occurred within 4 days of admission to the mental hospital. The average general hospitalization lasted 5.7 days. The reported total charge for all stays was $34 million. Dehydration (15%), hypertension (10%), and diabetes (10%) were the most frequent diagnoses. Thirteen percent of diagnoses met preventable hospitalization criteria. Given the variability among hospitals in admission rates and the number of preventable conditions, improvements in patient care and health as well as reduced admissions to general medical hospitals may be possible.