Evaluation of a Collaborative Mental Health Care System

Overview

In the absence of easy access to second-line ambulatory care, the number of 'inappropriate' psychiatric emergency visits is increasing, with emergency departments becoming the gateway to mental health care. This is the context in which the 'med@psy' system was set up in the Toulon-Provence-Mediterranean metropolitan area by a private psychiatrist. It facilitates access to psychiatric second referral for General Practitioners (GPs) by pooling the 48-hour supply of psychiatric consultations in real time. It is assumed that this system will facilitate access to outpatient psychiatric care and help to optimize the organisation of patient care and follow-up. The aim of this study is to evaluate the med@psy system in the care pathway for patients with psychiatric disorders. This study main objective is to compare the proportion of patients with a psychiatric disorder who will receive outpatient follow-up 1 month after a visit to a psychiatric emergency department without hospitalization (Group 1) versus 1 month after a consultation with a psychiatrist within 48 hours via the med@psy system (Group 2).

General practitioners (GPs) are the gateway to the healthcare system and therefore the first point of contact for mental health. A significant proportion of psychiatric disorders can be treated in primary care if GPs have easy access to psychiatric support. However, they are faced with difficulties in accessing secondary care. Around 9/10 consider that it is more difficult to obtain specialist advice than for other disciplines, and say they have difficulty referring a patient for mental health care. In the absence of easy access to second-line ambulatory care, the number of 'inappropriate' psychiatric emergency visits is increasing, with emergency departments becoming the gateway to mental health care. It is recognized that the deployment of earlier and more graduated care reduces the intensity of disorders, prescriptions for time off work and psychotropic drugs, and hospitalizations. A new, more preventive, efficient and cost-effective approach to mental health is emerging, with psychiatrists working closely with GPs. This is the context in which the 'med@psy' system was set up in the Toulon-Provence-Mediterranean metropolitan area by a private psychiatrist. It facilitates access to psychiatric second referral for GPs by pooling the 48-hour supply of psychiatric consultations in real time. We assume that this system will facilitate access to outpatient psychiatric care and help to optimize the organisation of patient care and follow-up. The aim of this study is to evaluate the med@psy system in the care pathway for patients with psychiatric disorders. This study main objective is to compare the proportion of patients with a psychiatric disorder who will received outpatient follow-up 1 month after a visit to a psychiatric emergency department without hospitalization (Group 1) versus 1 month after a consultation with a psychiatrist within 48 hours via the med@psy system (Group 2).