The psychiatric treatment plan

How the treatment planning process is developed and documented in clinical settings is often influenced by various accreditation processes. As healthcare organizations attempt to incorporate written findings and verbal recommendations of surveyors, an incremental approach to the treatment plan often results. The authors describe how they attempted to alleviate this problem by devising a conceptual framework for the treatment planning process using current HCFA and JCAHO standards and data obtained by reviewing treatment plans from almost 100 psychiatric hospitals.