The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has updated its Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, including with new information specifically addressed to individuals in the European Economic Area. As described in the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, this website utilizes cookies, including for the purpose of offering an optimal online experience and services tailored to your preferences.

Please read the entire Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. By closing this message, browsing this website, continuing the navigation, or otherwise continuing to use the APA's websites, you confirm that you understand and accept the terms of the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, including the utilization of cookies.

×
ArticleNo Access

The Negative Impacts of Increased Concurrent Review of Psychiatric Inpatient Care

Published Online:https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.38.3.300

Concurrent review is a rapidly growing phenomenon that negatively affects the nature and quantity of work done by quality assurance and utilization review programs while generating increased costs to hospitals. It has also sapped the time and energy of physicians, harmed the physician-patient relationship, and limited the availability of certain physicians. While perhaps saving money for insurance companies, concurrent review has definitely detracted from the quality of certain aspects of patient care.

It would appear that third and fourth parties, in the interest of economics, are increasingly willing to accept and even foster diversion of physicians' efforts and reductions in treatment quality. Whether hospitals, clinicians, and patients can survive these changes remains to be seen.

When evaluating and comparing past patterns and current trends in concurrent review, policymakers will have to take into account a variety of issues and points of view. The negative impacts of concurrent review as seen by hospitals and other providers of patient care will be among the issues they will need to consider.

Access content

To read the fulltext, please use one of the options below to sign in or purchase access.