Improving Inpatient Psychiatric Services for the Next Generation: Moving Beyond the Crisis Stabilization Model

A short-stay, crisis stabilization model has been the predominant organizing principle for inpatient psychiatric care for two generations. This model has long been criticized as insufficiently patient (or person) centered and overly focused on psychopharmacological treatment and outpatient care coordination. Since the beginning of 2026, the Patient Experience Survey is now mandatory for Medicare-reimbursed psychiatric facilities. In this Open Forum, three inpatient psychiatric administrators argue that this important step, while necessary, must be paired with increased adoption of interventional treatments and integrated general medical services to improve the quality of inpatient mental health care.