Accelerating Access to Early Intervention Through Hospital-Wide Outreach and Enhanced Referral Support

Detection and intervention of psychosis-risk states are typically delivered through clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR) clinics grounded in CHR research frameworks. However, real-world implementation is limited by major challenges, including clinical efficiency, comorbidity, and transdiagnostic presentations. At McLean Hospital, we launched the Outreach and Enhanced Referral Support project to address these challenges and extend early detection and intervention beyond traditional CHR clinic settings. Here we describe the project and report interim findings.

This pilot project comprises three phases: needs assessment, outreach training, and enhanced referral support. Surveys assessed feasibility, acceptability, and selected clinical outcomes.

Ten referral support cases were completed between July 2024 and April 2025. Feasibility ratings ranged 80%-100%, and acceptability was 91.7%. The mean wait time for support services was 3 days (95% CI 2.11-3.89, SD = 1.25; range, 0-7).

Preliminary findings indicate that the Outreach and Enhanced Referral Support model is feasible and acceptable in a large psychiatric hospital setting, warranting larger-scale evaluation of its clinical impact.