Dr. Gill is a postdoctoral psychology resident at Kaiser Permanente Vacaville Medical Center and adjunct faculty at Palo Alto University. Dr. Saini is a clinical research coordinator at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Relova is research health scientist, Dr. Lee is staff psychiatrist and deputy chief of service for mental health, and Dr. Yasmin is a staff psychiatrist and inpatient mental health director, all at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. Dr. Drag is a staff neuropsychologist at Stanford Hospitals and Clinics in Palo Alto, all in California.
Author disclosures The authors report no actual or potential conflicts of interest with regard to this article.
Disclaimer The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Federal Practitioner, Frontline Medical Communications Inc., the U.S. Government, or any of its agencies.
Results of this study indicate that special attention should be given to veterans’ demographic and clinical factors, including age, sex, combat flags, marital status, and SMI diagnosis. Through identification of and outreach regarding these veteran-specific factors, it may be possible to use targeted interventions to reduce the need for inpatient hospitalization of veterans with chronic mental illness. Historically, the emphasis on access and outpatient care within the VA health care system drastically reduced the number of inpatient MH days. 30 This outcome underscores the importance of outpatient services and suggests that targeted outpatient care can further reduce the need for inpatient MH care. Veterans with these outlined risk factors may benefit from implementation of early preventive measures.
