Patient care episodes in mental health organizations, United States: selected years from 1955 to 1988.

The 4,930 mental health organizations providing mental health services in the United States during 1988 (excluding the Territories) generated just over 8.3 million patient care episodes (table 1). However, in order to compare 1988 data with those for other years dating back to 1955, outpatient and partial care programs administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (formerly the Veterans Administration) (VA) need to be omitted (table 2). Thus the 7.8 million patient care episodes in 1988 (exclusive of VA outpatient and partial care programs) represented a more than four-fold increase over the 1.7 million patient care episodes in mental health organizations observed more than three decades earlier in 1955. The major shifts in patient care episodes over the period from 1955 to 1988 have been from inpatient to ambulatory care services in mental health organizations, and from State and county mental hospitals to community-based mental health organizations. For example, in 1955, 77 percent of all patient care episodes were inpatient episodes, and the remaining 23 percent were outpatient episodes. By 1988, inpatient episodes constituted only 28 percent of the total, while 66 percent were outpatient episodes, and 6 percent were partial care episodes (table 2 and figure 1). However, the relative distribution of inpatient, outpatient, and partial care episodes has been relatively stable since 1975. From 1955 to 1988, the primary locus of inpatient care shifted from State and county mental hospitals to non-Federal general hospitals. Also, by 1988, the locus of over one-half of the outpatient care episodes and almost two-thirds of the partial care episodes was in multiservice mental health organizations.