Inpatient bed needs for psychiatric care

Along with other types of hospital inpatient care, acute psychiatric units are subject to state certificate-of-need review under Public Law 93-641. A study of 15 hospitals in Virginia suggests that prevailing techniques for determining inpatient bed needs are not appropriate for psychiatric beds, if indeed they are for other types of care. An alternative technique is offered, not as a substitute for judgment in such matters, but as assistance to it.