Am J Psychiatry 1990; 147:1180-1183
Copyright © 1990 by American Psychiatric Association
Regional variation in patterns of inpatient psychiatric care
R Rosenheck and B Astrachan
Northeast Program Evaluation Center, West Haven VA Medical Center, Conn.
Regional variation in both average length of stay and number of beds per
100,000 population is described for inpatient psychiatric care in the
United States during 1983. The greatest differences were between the
Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, on the one hand, and the Pacific and
Southwest regions, on the other. Medical centers of the U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA), whose policies are largely centrally determined,
followed the same regional trends. Regional average length of stay,
particularly in public sector mental health care organizations, was higher
in regions with more occupied beds per 100,000 population.
