Some Aspects of Patient-Flow in the Dutchess County Unit, 1960-1963

Abstract

When the evaluation studies of the Dutchess County Unit were being planned, it was the consensus that no hypotheses relating movement of patients to the evaluation of the Unit could be stated. Nevertheless, it was felt that while collection of the data needed for testing the hypotheses relating to the effectiveness of the Unit was the primary function of the research group, it was also of importance to monitor and analyze the characteristics of the flow of patients through the Unit. Initially, no predictions were made concerning indices of Unit activity based on these data, such as the admission rate, discharge rate, and average length of stay. A reporting system was developed by which each major change of status of each patient as he moved on and off the books of the Unit was recorded. For each patient entering the Unit, much of the information on his or her admission form, filled out by the hospital for state use, was recorded. To follow the movement of the patient into and out of the Unit, a transaction record was prepared for each admission, discharge, death, placement on, or return from, convalescent care, family care, leave without consent, and home leave, and transfer to or from another state or state-licensed mental hospital, or the other services of the Hudson River State Hospital. A separate record specifying each transaction and the date on which it occurred was prepared and filed. Thus a sequential record of each patient's experience in the Unit was accumulated, beginning with the admission record of