Quality Assurance and Psychiatric Practice: A Review

Peer review in psychiatry will be difficult because of inadequate records, lack of agreement on diagnosis, the limited usefulness of psychiatric diagnosis, wide variations in criteria for hospitalization and discharge, the complex nature of the psychotherapy treatment process, and problems infitting all mental health care to the “medical model.” However, the PSRO legislation has the potential to improve record keeping, to focus treatment on the reason for hospitalization, to lead to greater involvement of the family and social system in the treatment process and discharge planning, to improve continuity of care, and to stimulate medical care research in mental health.