Requisites for Excellence

Abstract

Insurance regulations, strict admission and discharge criteria developed b managed care and shortening length of stay in hospital psychlatry i ave created a need for the most efficient use of resources to provlde the highest quality of care. Haddow 1986), a speaker at the National Association for Private Psychiatric os itals Conference, stated that various kinds of hospitals-shorstay, yong- stay, high staff ratio, low staff ratio-all claim high quality of care. The reader need only leaf through a few professional journals to find articles espousing the psychiatric benefits of divergent treatment philosophies and methods, some of which are held wlth the passion of a zealot. This paper does not address costs, the value of one discipline or philosophy versus another, or varying length of stay, but it emphas~zes the significance of role clarity, institutional requisites, and staff collaboration and communication in building and maintaining excellent quality of care.