Predictors of psychiatric aftercare among formerly hospitalized adolescents.

Objective: Timely aftercare can be viewed as a patient safety imperative. In the context of decreasing inpatient length of stay (LOS) and known child psychiatry human resource challenges, we investigated time to aftercare for adolescents following psychiatric hospitalization.

Method: We conducted a population-based cohort study of adolescents aged 15 to 19 years with psychiatric discharge between April 1, 2002, and March 1, 2004, in Ontario, using encrypted identifiers across health administrative databases to determine time to first psychiatric aftercare with a primary care physician (PCP) or a psychiatrist within 395 days of discharge.

Aftercare, emergency department visits, and readmission in adolescents.

Objective: U.S. and Canadian data demonstrate decreasing inpatient days, increasing nonurgent emergency department (ED) visits, and short supply of child psychiatrists.