Factors complicating cost containment in the treatment of suicidal patients.

Objective: The treatment of suicidal patients contributes to escalating mental health expenditures. Fiscal realities necessitate that cost-containment measures be implemented wherever possible. The authors reviewed the literature to delineate factors that impede cost containment for the treatment of suicidal patients and to outline strategies for controlling costs while improving the quality of care. Methods: Psychological Abstracts and MEDLINE databases were reviewed. Retrieval and analysis focused on literature published between 1982 and 1992. Results and conclusions: Five factors unique to the treatment of suicidal patients that impede cost containment were identified: the lack of a specific and cost-effective screening method to determine true risk of suicide, the high number of parasuicidal and malingering patients, revolvingdoor admissions of involuntary patients who become noncompliant with treatment after discharge, the adverse clinical consequences of further increases in existing discriminatory ...