Types of patients served by various providers of outpatient care in CMHCs

Representative community mental health center (CMHC) survey data showed that psychiatrists differed from other CMHC providers of mental health services by serving the more seriously impaired patients who are admitted and readmitted to outpatient services. Psychiatrists also shared more outpatients with providers from other disciplines than providers in other disciplines shared with one another. The results are consistent with previous research on differences between disciplines and with the flight of psychiatrists from CMHCs but cast doubt on the hypothesis that psychiatrists see sicker patients than psychologists see because of differences in reimbursement between the two disciplines.