Psychiatry and the general hospital in an age of uncertainty

Abstract

General hospitals have had an illustrious role in the evolution of psychiatry. They have provided a rich soil for the growth of inpatient psychiatric units, consultation-liaison psychiatry, psychosomatic medicine, med-psych units, outpatient psychiatric clinics, emergency services and a whole spectrum of resources for the communities in which they dwell. In some respects, whether attached to universities or not, they have functioned as small colleges for the education and training of scores of health professionals. In the setting of the general hospital, psychiatry has had opportunities to become remedicalized and integrated into the mainstream of medicine. However, recent trends in health care run the risk of jeopardizing these accomplishments. Managed care has had a profound impact on the way psychiatry is practiced, taught, and reimbursed. Concerns about cost-containment have raised questions about whether the general hospital will remain the best and most economical setting for psychiatric services. If the primacy of the patient is lost, psychiatry's role in the general hospital will be uncertain. The need to safeguard psychiatry's achievements must be a worldwide endeavor.