Patient Safety In Inpatient Psychiatry: A Remaining Frontier For Health Policy.

ABSTRACT: Behavioral health care has been slow to take up robust efforts to improve patient safety. This lag is especially apparent in inpatient psychiatry, where there is risk for physical and psychological harm. Recent investigative journalism has provoked public concern about instances of alleged abuse, negligence, understaffing, sexual assault, inappropriate medication use, patient self-harm, poor sanitation, and inappropriate restraint and seclusion. However, empirical evidence describing the scope of unsafe experiences is limited. While evidence-based inpatient psychiatry requires care to be trauma-informed, market failures and a lack of payment alignment with patient-centered care leave patients vulnerable to harm. Existing regulatory mechanisms attempt to provide accountability; however, the

SUBMITTER: Shields MC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10152928 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature