UF Health Researchers Develop CMS Quality Measure to Evaluate Inpatient Psychiatric Hospitals

University of Florida Health researchers, in collaboration with the Health Services Advisory Group, have completed a new quality measure for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to evaluate care in nearly 1,700 psychiatric hospitals nationwide.

The UF measure tracks 30-day hospital readmission rates for psychiatric patients following discharge. UF researchers said it provides a barometer by which CMS, health care providers and consumers can assess how effectively hospitals are delivering inpatient psychiatric care.

“Hospital readmission is a significant problem for psychiatric patients,” said Almut Winterstein, R.Ph., Ph.D., FISPE, a professor and Dr. Robert and Barbara Crisafi Chair in Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy in the UF College of Pharmacy and the director of the UF Center for Drug Evaluation and Safety. “We found one in five patients admitted to the hospital for a psychiatric condition end up being readmitted within 30 days and almost half require inpatient care within six months.”

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