Emergency medical evaluation of psychiatric patients.

STUDY OBJECTIVES To determine the completeness of documentation and accuracy of medical evaluation for a sample of emergency psychiatric patients. DESIGN Descriptive, retrospective chart review. SETTING Nine hundred-bed community teaching hospital with a voluntary psychiatric inpatient unit. TYPE OF PARTICIPANTS Two hundred ninety-eight emergency department patients with psychiatric chief complaints, all of whom were admitted to the voluntary psychiatric unit of the same community teaching hospital. INTERVENTIONS None MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS There was failure to document mental status at triage in 56% of patients. The most frequent process deficiencies in the medical evaluation were in the neurological examination. Twelve patients (4%) required acute medical treatment within 24 hours of psychiatric admission, and the ED history and physical examination should have identified an acute condition in 83%. The chart was documented "medically clear" in 80% of patients in whom medical disease should have been identified. Patients less than 55 years old had a four times greater chance of a missed medical diagnosis. CONCLUSION Process deficiencies in the medical history and physical examination accounted for the vast majority of missed acute medical conditions. The statement "medically clear" is inaccurate and should be replaced by a thorough discharge note.