Citation

Ferrara M, Gallagher K, Yoviene Sykes LA, Markovich P, Li F, Pollard JM, Imetovski S, Cahill J, Gülöksüz S, Srihari VH. Psychiatr. Serv. 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, American Psychiatric Association)

DOI

10.1176/appi.ps.202100374

PMID

35652190

Abstract

Duration of untreated psychosis (DUP), the period between psychosis onset and entry into care, is a time of great vulnerability. Longer DUP predicts poorer outcomes, and delayed treatment access can limit the effectiveness of coordinated specialty care (CSC) services. This column details one component of a broader early detection campaign, a quality improvement intervention focusing on reducing the delay between confirmation of eligibility and admission to care within a benchmark period of 7 days. Median delay significantly fell (from 13.5 to 3 days), and the proportion of admissions that met the benchmark increased (from 33% to 71%) over 4 years. This intervention provides a sustainable model to reduce wait times at CSC services.

Language: en

Keywords

Public health; Psychosis; Service delivery; Duration of untreated psychosis; First episode psychosis; Quality improvement