Reducing transfers of psychiatric inpatients to emergency rooms of general hospitals in Singapore: a clinical practice improvement project

Abstract

Objective: Patients admitted to a psychiatric hospital commonly suffer from comorbid medical problems which sometimes require urgent medical attention. Twenty-two percent of emergency medical transfers from the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) to the emergency rooms of general hospitals were preventable and could be managed at IMH itself. We undertook a quality improvement project to understand the reasons behind such preventable referrals and implemented changes to address this.Methods: Using the model for improvement, we deconstructed our processes and analysed root causes for such preventable referrals. Thereafter changes were implemented with Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles to analyse their outcomes.Results: During the 6-month study period, we achieved a 100% reduction in preventable referrals through strategies aimed at reducing pressure on our on-call physicians in the making of medical decisions, maximising usage of our medical resources, constant education and raising awareness of this issue.Conclusions: Reducing preventable transfer of inpatients from a psychiatric hospital to the emergency departments of general hospitals is a worthwhile endeavour. Such initiatives optimise use of healthcare resources, improve patient care and increase satisfaction.