[Frequency and coding of psychiatric care of short-stay patients]

The objective of this study was to describe the frequency and coding of the psychiatric management of short-stay patients admitted to Nice University Hospital in 2013.

Various parameters were measured : percentage of outpatient psychiatric procedures or psychiatric diagnosis codes ; coding practice differences between the Programme de médicalisation des systèmes d’information (Medical Information System Programme) for medicine, surgery and obstetrics and psychiatric medical data records, and the impact of coding on diagnosis-related groups.

Twenty-four per cent of hospitalised patients received psychiatric management (either outpatient care or a psychiatric diagnosis) and 3.9% received both psychiatric management and a psychiatric diagnosis. Liaison psychiatrists more commonly used codes for neurotic and psychosomatic disorders (28% vs 16%), while somatic physicians more commonly used codes for psychoactive substance use-related disorders (26% vs 16%).The presence of psychiatric comorbidity had an impact on the DRG classification or the level of severity for 0.5% of standardized discharge summaries.

This study illustrates the importance of the active involvement of psychiatry personnel in the management of short-stay patients. The importance of psychosomatic medicine in a short-stay institution could be improved by establishing a clearer definition of coding rules for these diseases and revising and identifying wards or beds devoted to psychosomatic disorders.