Integration of a proactive, multidisciplinary mental health team on hospital medicine improves provider and nursing satisfaction

OBJECTIVE

Psychiatric comorbidity among hospital medicine patients is common and often complicates care delivery and compromises outcomes. Team-based, proactive consultation-liaison (CL) psychiatry has been shown to reduce hospital length of stay (LOS) and care costs, but staff satisfaction with this model has not been explored in detail. Here we evaluate its impact on hospital medicine provider and nurse satisfaction.

METHODS

We implemented a team-based proactive CL service that reviews all admitted hospital medicine patients across 3 units for psychiatric comorbidity and provides unit-wide integrated mental health care. Hospital medicine staff completed surveys before and after a 6-month pilot phase: 10-item provider surveys covered resource adequacy, safety, time for healthcare improvements, and burnout; 26-item nurse surveys included the same 10 items plus 8 on behavioral health assessment competency and 8 on intervention competency. Additionally, we characterized psychiatric comorbidity, calculated consultation latency and volume and also average LOS during these 6 months.

RESULTS

The provider response rate was 57% (20/35 before; 21/37 after) and roughly a third for nurses (32/~90 and 31/~90, respectively). Providers rated 9 of 10 items as improved, including one on burnout. Nursing satisfaction improved similarly but with lower effect sizes. During the pilot (n = 1590), 71% had chart-identified psychiatric comorbidity. Consultation latency decreased by 0.86 days; consultation rate increased nearly 3-fold; and average LOS decreased by 0.33 days.

CONCLUSIONS

Team-based proactive CL psychiatry enhances provider and nurse satisfaction and may even reduce provider burnout. We also confirmed that this model is associated with reduced average LOS.