Racism, early psychosis, and institutional contact: A qualitative study of Indigenous experiences.

BACKGROUND: There is evidence of Indigenous and ethnic minority inequities in the incidence and outcomes of early psychosis. Racism has been implicated as having an important role. AIM: To use Indigenous experiences to develop a more detailed understanding of how racism operates to impact early psychosis outcomes. METHODS: Critical Race Theory informed the methodology used. Twenty-three Indigenous participants participated in four family focus group interviews and thirteen individual interviews, comprising of 9 Maori youth with early psychosis, 10 family members and 4 Maori mental health professionals. An analysis of the data was undertaken using deductive structural coding to identify descriptions of racism, followed by inductive descriptive and pattern coding. RESULTS: Participant experiences revealed how racism operates as a socio-cultural phenomenon that interacts with institutional policy and culture across systems pertaining to social responsiveness, risk discourse, and mental health service structures. This is described across three major themes: 1) selective responses based on racial stereotypes, 2) race related risk assessment bias and 3) institutional racism in the mental health workforce. The impacts of racism were reported as inaction in the face of social need, increased use of coercive practices and an under resourced Indigenous mental health workforce. CONCLUSION: The study illustrated the inter-related nature of interpersonal, institutional and structural racism with examples of interpersonal racism in the form of negative stereotypes interacting with organizational, socio-cultural and political priorities. These findings indicate that organizational cultures may differentially impact Indigenous and minority people and that social responsiveness, risk discourse and the distribution of workforce expenditure are important targets for anti-racism efforts.

Burden of illness among patients with dementia-related psychosis.

BACKGROUND: More than 5.6 million Americans suffer from dementia, and that number is expected to double by 2060. This comes at a considerable burden to the health care system with costs estimated at $157-$215 billion in 2010. Depending on dementia type and disease progression, approximately 20%-70% of patients experience dementia-related psychosis (DRP), characterized by hallucinations and/or delusions resulting in worse clinical outcomes and greater caregiver burden compared with patients without DRP. OBJECTIVE: To compare real-world clinical events, health care resource utilization (HCRU), and health care costs among matched cohorts of DRP versus dementia-only patients. METHODS: This retrospective database analysis examined commercial and Medicare Advantage with Part D enrollees aged ≥ 40 years with evidence of DRP and dementia from January 1, 2010, through March 31, 2017. The first observed indicator of psychosis (≥ 2 diagnoses and/or antipsychotic pharmacy fills) co-occurring with or following evidence of dementia (≥ 2 diagnoses and/or dementia medication pharmacy fills) was the index date among patients with DRP. DRP patients were propensity score matched 1:1 to patients with dementia only based on demographics, comorbidities, dementia type, dementia severity, and pre-index all-cause HCRU. Continuous health plan enrollment ≥ 12 months before evidence of dementia through the index date and ≥ 12 months following the index date was required. Outcomes included clinical events, HCRU, and health care costs. RESULTS: A significantly higher percentage of DRP patients had ≥1 diagnosis for behavioral health conditions in the pre-index period compared with dementia-only patients (depression: 32.4% vs. 22.8%; anxiety: 19.1% vs. 11.5%; and insomnia: 9.0% vs. 6.3%; P < 0.001 for all comparisons). Diagnoses of post-index clinical events were significantly more likely among DRP patients compared with dementia-only patients including falls/fractures (28.3% vs. 14.1%), neurologic effects (17.7% vs. 12.9%), sedation (15.0% vs. 2.4%), cardiovascular effects (7.0% vs. 4.1%), and extrapyramidal reactions (3.2% vs. 1.7%; P < 0.001 for all comparisons). Higher percentages of DRP patients had an all-cause outpatient visit (80.2% vs. 68.9%), emergency visit (65.0% vs. 36.6%), or inpatient stay (47.2% vs. 20.0%) during the post-index period (P < 0.001 for all comparisons). The proportions of DRP patients with a post-index dementia-related office visit, outpatient visit, emergency visit, or inpatient stay was 48%, 147%, 339%, and 286% higher, respectively, compared with patients with dementia only. Compared with patients with dementia only, patients with DRP had significantly higher mean total post-index all-cause costs ($21,657 vs. $12,026; P < 0.001) and dementia-related costs ($11,852 vs. $3,013; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with DRP were more likely to have diagnoses for behavioral health conditions, experience clinical events, and have higher mean all-cause and dementia-related HCRU and costs compared with patients with dementia only. These results reflect the unmet need of patients with DRP and an urgency for new treatment options to reduce substantial clinical and economic burden in this population. DISCLOSURES: This study was funded by Acadia Pharmaceuticals, which participated in the study design, interpretation of study results, and critical review of the manuscript. Abler, Skoog, and Rashid were employees of Acadia Pharmaceuticals at the time this study was conducted. Frazer and Halpern were employees of Optum at the time this study was conducted and were funded by Acadia Pharmaceuticals to conduct the study.

Economic Evaluation of Extended Early Intervention Service vs Regular Care Following 2 Years of Early Intervention: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Cost-effectiveness studies of early intervention services (EIS) for psychosis have not included extension beyond the first 2 years. We sought to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a 3-year extension of EIS compared to regular care (RC) from the public health care payer's perspective. Following 2 years of EIS in a university setting in Montreal, Canada, patients were randomized to a 3-year extension of EIS (n = 110) or RC (n = 110). Months of total symptom remission served as the main outcome measure. Resource use and cost data for publicly covered health care services were derived mostly from administrative systems. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) and cost-effectiveness acceptability curve were produced. Relative cost-effectiveness was estimated for those with duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) of 12 weeks or less vs longer. Extended early intervention had higher costs for psychiatrist and nonphysician interventions, but total costs were not significantly different. The ICER was $1627 per month in total remission. For the intervention to have an 80% chance of being cost-effective, the decision-maker needs to be willing to pay $5942 per month of total symptom remission. DUP ≤ 12 weeks was associated with a reduction in costs of $12 276 even if no value is placed on additional months in total remission. Extending EIS for psychosis for people, such as those included in this study, may be cost-effective if the decision-maker is willing to pay a high price for additional months of total symptom remission, though one commensurate with currently funded interventions. Cost-effectiveness was much greater for people with DUP ≤12 weeks.

Healthcare Costs, School Performance, and Health-related Quality of Life in Adolescence Following Psychotic Experiences in Preadolescence: A Longitudinal Cohort Study.

Psychotic experiences (PEs) are common in the general population in preadolescence. The implications of PEs on socioeconomic outcomes, including educational attainment, are scarcely described. We aimed to estimate how preadolescent PEs were associated with later healthcare costs, school performance, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in adolescence. A total of 1607 preadolescents from the general population Copenhagen Child Cohort 2000 were assessed for PEs at age 11-12 years and followed up over 5 years using register-based data on mental and somatic healthcare costs, and school performance at age 16. Furthermore, HRQoL was assessed for a subsample of the children at age 16-17. We adjusted for perinatal and family sociodemographic adversities, prior parental mental illness and healthcare use, child IQ-estimate at age 11-12, and parent-rated general psychopathology of their child. PEs were associated with slightly poorer school performance. However, preadolescents with PEs more often reported HRQoL within the lowest 10th percentile (OR = 2.74 [95% CI 1.71-4.37]). Preadolescents who reported PEs had higher average total healthcare costs over the following 5 years. The costs for individuals with PEs were higher for mental healthcare services across primary to tertiary care, but not for somatic care. After adjustments, PEs remained independently associated with higher costs and poorer HRQoL, but not with poorer school performance. In conclusion, PEs are important in mental health screening of preadolescents and identify a group of young people with increased healthcare service-use throughout adolescence and who report poorer HRQoL in adolescence, over and above parent-rated general psychopathology of their child.

Psychiatric genetic counseling for serious mental illness: Impact on psychopathology and psychotropic medication adherence.

For people with serious mental illness (SMI) (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder), psychiatric genetic counseling (PGC) has been shown to significantly increase empowerment and illness management self-efficacy. While these outcomes are important, they are also theoretical precursors for behavior changes (e.g. improved medication adherence), and improved mental health. Therefore, we conducted the first study (repeated-measures/within-subjects design) to test the hypothesis that PGC would reduce psychiatric symptoms due to increased medication adherence. Between 2013-2018, we recruited N = 109 individuals (age 19-72) with SMI and administered the short Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (short-PANSS) and Brief Adherence Rating Scale (BARS) at four timepoints; twice Pre-PGC (T1: 1-month Pre-PGC and T2: immediately Pre-PGC), to assess change in adherence/symptoms without any intervention (internal control condition), and twice Post-PGC (T3: 1-month and T4: 2-months Post-PGC), to assess impact of PGC. A quantile regression model investigated the relationships between short-PANSS, timepoints, and BARS. There was a significant relationship between short-PANSS and timepoints at the 75th (T4 short-PANSS scores < T1 and T2) and 90th quantiles (T4 short-PANSS scores < T2), but these results were not explained by improved medication adherence. PGC for SMI may reduce psychiatric symptoms, but confirmatory work and studies to examine mechanism are needed.

Cost-Effectiveness of Routine Screening for Autoimmune Encephalitis in Patients With First-Episode Psychosis in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: Autoimmune encephalitis (AE) is a highly treatable neurologic condition that can cause psychosis. Screening for AE is not currently recommended in routine workup for first-episode psychosis (FEP), owing partly to the high cost of testing for AE-associated neuronal autoantibodies. METHODS: This study used a decision-analytic model to estimate the cost-effectiveness of routine serum screening for AE compared with clinically targeted screening in patients with FEP. Model parameters drawn from prior published literature included the prevalence of neuronal autoantibodies in FEP (4.5%), serum autoantibody panel cost (US $291), remission probability with antipsychotics (0.58), and remission probability with immunotherapy for patients diagnosed with AE (0.85). Outcomes included quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), costs, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs), assessed over a 5-year horizon from the US health care sector and societal perspectives. ICER thresholds of $50,000/QALY to $150,000/QALY were used to define cost-effectiveness. The analysis was conducted between June 2018 and January 2020. RESULTS: Routine screening led to mean QALY gains of 0.008 among all patients and 0.174 among the subgroup of patients with neuronal autoantibodies. Mean costs increased by $780 from a societal perspective and $1,150 from a health care sector perspective, resulting in ICERs of $99,330/QALY and $147,460/QALY, respectively. Incorporating joint input data uncertainty, the likelihood routine screening has an ICER ≤ $150,000/QALY was 55% from a societal perspective and 37% from a health care sector perspective. The model parameter with the greatest contribution to overall uncertainty was the effectiveness of immunotherapy relative to antipsychotics. CONCLUSIONS: Routine screening for AE in patients with FEP may be cost-effective in the United States. As further immunotherapy effectiveness data become available, a more definitive recommendation to perform routine screening could be warranted.

Psychological interventions for people with psychotic experiences: A systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled and uncontrolled effectiveness and economic studies.

OBJECTIVE: Many people with psychotic experiences do not develop psychotic disorders, yet those who seek help demonstrate high clinical complexity and poor outcomes. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we evaluated the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of psychological interventions for people with psychotic experiences. METHOD: We searched 13 databases for studies of psychological interventions for adults with psychotic experiences, but not psychotic disorders. Our outcomes were the proportion of participants remitting from psychotic experiences (primary); changes in positive and negative psychotic symptoms, depression, anxiety, functioning, distress, and quality of life; and economic outcomes (secondary). We analysed results using multilevel random-effects meta-analysis and narrative synthesis. RESULTS: A total of 27 reports met inclusion criteria. In general, there was no strong evidence for the superiority of any one intervention. Five studies reported on our primary outcome, though only two reports provided randomised controlled trial evidence that psychological intervention (specifically, cognitive behavioural therapy) promoted remission from psychotic experiences. For secondary outcomes, we could only meta-analyse trials of cognitive behavioural therapy. We found that cognitive behavioural therapy was more effective than treatment as usual for reducing distress (pooled standardised mean difference: -0.24; 95% confidence interval = [-0.37, -0.10]), but no more effective than the control treatment for improving any other outcome. Individual reports indicated that cognitive behavioural therapy, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, sleep cognitive behavioural therapy, systemic therapy, cognitive remediation therapy, and supportive treatments improved at least one clinical or functional outcome. Four reports included economic evaluations, which suggested cognitive behavioural therapy may be cost-effective compared with treatment as usual. CONCLUSION: Our meta-analytic findings were primarily null, with the exception that cognitive behavioural therapy may reduce the distress associated with psychotic experiences. Our analyses were limited by scarcity of studies, small samples and variable study quality. Several intervention frameworks showed preliminary evidence of positive outcomes; however, the paucity of consistent evidence for clinical and functional improvement highlights a need for further research into psychological treatments for psychotic experiences. PROSPERO PROTOCOL REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42016033869.

Cost-effectiveness of a specialist smoking cessation package compared with standard smoking cessation services for people with severe mental illness in England: a trial-based economic evaluation from the SCIMITAR+ study.

AIMS: To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a specialist smoking cessation package for people with severe mental illness DESIGN: Incremental cost-effectiveness analysis was undertaken from the UK National Health Service and Personal Social Services perspective over a 12-month time horizon. Total costs, including smoking cessation, health-care and social services costs and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), derived from the five-level EuroQol 5-dimension (EQ-5D-5 L), collected from a randomized controlled trial, were used as outcome measures. The bootstrap technique was employed to assess the uncertainty. SETTING: Sixteen primary care and 21 secondary care mental health sites in England. PARTICIPANTS: Adult smokers with bipolar affective disorder, schizoaffective disorder or schizophrenia and related illnesses (n = 526). INTERVENTION AND COMPARATOR: A bespoke smoking cessation (BSC) package for people with severe mental illness offered up to 12 individual sessions with a mental health smoking cessation practitioner versus usual care (UC). Of the participants who were randomized, 261 were in UC group and 265 were in BSC group. MEASUREMENTS: BSC intervention cost was estimated from the treatment log. Costs of UC, health-care and social services and EQ-5D-5 L were collected at baseline, 6- and 12-month follow-ups. Incremental costs and incremental QLAYs were estimated using regression adjusting for respective baseline values and other baseline covariates. FINDINGS: The mean total cost in the BSC group was £270 [95% confidence interval (CI) = -£1690 to £1424] lower than in the UC group, while the mean QALYs were 0.013 (95% CI = -0.008 to 0.045) higher, leading to BSC dominating UC (76% probability of cost-effective at £20 000/QALY). CONCLUSIONS: A bespoke smoking cessation package for people with severe mental illness is likely to be cost-effective over 12 months compared with usual care provided by the UK's National Health Service and personal social services.

Increasing access to CBT for psychosis patients: a feasibility, randomised controlled trial evaluating brief, targeted CBT for distressing voices delivered by assistant psychologists (GiVE2).

BACKGROUND: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends that Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for psychosis (CBTp) is offered to all patients with a psychosis diagnosis. However, only a minority of psychosis patients in England and Wales are offered CBTp. This is attributable, in part, to the resource-intensive nature of CBTp. One response to this problem has been the development of CBTp in brief formats that are targeted at a single symptom and the mechanisms that maintain distress. We have developed a brief form of CBTp for distressing voices and reported preliminary evidence for its effectiveness when delivered by highly trained therapists (clinical psychologists). This study will investigate the delivery of this intervention by a cost-effective workforce of assistant psychologists following a brief training and evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of conducting a future, definitive, randomised controlled trial (RCT). METHODS: This is a feasibility study for a pragmatic, three-arm, parallel-group, superiority 1:1:1 RCT comparing a Guided self-help CBT intervention for voices and treatment as usual (GiVE) to Supportive Counselling and treatment as usual (SC) to treatment as usual alone (TAU), recruiting across two sites, with blinded post-treatment and follow-up assessments. A process evaluation will quantitatively and qualitatively explore stakeholder experience. DISCUSSION: Expected outcomes will include an assessment of the feasibility of conducting a definitive RCT, and data to inform the calculation of its sample size. If evidence from a subsequent, fully powered RCT suggests that GiVE is clinically and cost-effective when delivered by briefly trained assistant psychologists, CBTp offered in these less resource-intensive forms has the potential to generate benefits for individual patients (reduced distress, enhanced recovery and enhanced quality of life), service-level patient benefit (increased access to evidence-based psychological therapies) and economic benefits to the NHS (in terms of the reduced use of mental health inpatient services). TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials, ISRCTN registration number: 16166070. Registered on 5 February 2019.

Applying the triple bottom line of sustainability to healthcare research-a feasibility study.

OBJECTIVE: The triple bottom line (TBL) of sustainability is an important emerging conceptual framework which considers the combined economic, environmental and social impacts of an activity. Despite its clear relevance to the healthcare context, it has not yet been applied to the evaluation of a healthcare intervention. The aim of this study was to demonstrate whether doing so is feasible and useful. DESIGN: Secondary data analysis of a 12-month randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Community based mental health care. PARTICIPANTS: Patients with chronic psychotic illnesses (n = 333). INTERVENTION(S): Community treatment orders. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Financial and environmental (CO2 equivalent) costs of care, obtained from healthcare service use data, were calculated using publicly available standard costs; social sustainability was assessed using standardized social outcome measures included in the trial data. RESULTS: Standardized costing and CO2e emissions figures were successfully obtained from publicly available data, and social outcomes were available directly from the trial data. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that TBL assessment can be retrospectively calculated for a healthcare intervention to provide a more complete assessment of the true costs of an intervention. A basic methodology was advanced to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach, although considerable further conceptual and methodological work is needed to develop a generalizable methodology that enables prospective inclusion of a TBL assessment in healthcare evaluations. If achieved, this would represent a significant milestone in the development of more sustainable healthcare services. If increasing the sustainability of healthcare is a priority, then the TBL approach may be a promising way forward.

Designing and Testing of a Health-Economic Markov Model for Prevention and Treatment of Early Psychosis.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to report on the design of a model to determine the cost-effectiveness of prevention and treatment of early psychosis (PsyMod) and to estimate ten-year cost-effectiveness and budget impact of interventions targeting individuals with ultra-high risk (UHR) of developing psychosis or with first episode psychosis (FEP). METHODS: PsyMod was built in parallel with the development of a new standard of care for treatment of early psychosis in the Netherlands. PsyMod is a state-transition cohort simulation model and considers six health states, namely ultra-high risk of psychosis (UHR), FEP, post-FEP, no-UHR, recovery/remission, and death. Results are expressed as total healthcare costs, QALYs, incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER), and budget impact. RESULTS: PsyMod was used to extrapolate budget impact and cost-effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy for preventing FEP for individuals at UHR of psychosis (CBTuhr) compared to care as usual. CBTuhr resulted in a per-patient increase of 0.06 QALYs and a per patient cost reduction of €654 (dominant ICER) with a reduction in 5-year healthcare costs of €1,002,166. CONCLUSIONS: PsyMod can be used to examine cost-effectiveness and budget impact of interventions targeting prevention and treatment of FEP and is freely available for academic purposes upon request by the authors.

Preliminary Evaluation of Washington State's Early Intervention Program for First-Episode Psychosis.

OBJECTIVE: Early intervention programs are designed to address the needs of youths experiencing first-episode psychosis (FEP). Washington State developed New Journeys, a network of coordinated specialty care programs for FEP. In this study, the authors have outlined components of the New Journeys model and preliminary findings since its initial implementation. METHODS: Youths and young adults diagnosed as having psychosis (N=112) completed measures at and after intake on a range of mental health assessments and functional outcomes for the first 12 months of treatment. Administrative data including state-funded emergency department and psychiatric hospitalizations were assessed 24 months before and after intake. Generalized estimating equations were used to assess change over time on multiple measures of mental health status. RESULTS: Compared with their condition at intake, clients had significant decreases in symptoms of anxiety (ß=-2.48, p<0.001), psychotic experiences (ß=-3.37, p<0.05), and clinician-rated psychotic symptoms (ß=-1.47, p<0.05) during treatment. Additionally, quality of life (ß=-5.95, p<0.001) and school attendance (odds ratio=1.42, p<0.05) significantly improved during treatment. Administrative data indicated that postintake, clients were less likely to visit the emergency department for psychiatric reasons (ß=0.22, p<0.05), utilize community psychiatric inpatient services (ß=0.31, p<0.001), and utilize public assistance (ß=0.71, p<0.05) compared with 24 months before intake. CONCLUSIONS: New Journeys clients experienced improved clinical and functional outcomes during their first year of treatment, and rates of state-funded service utilization decreased during their treatment.

Employment Status and Personal Income Before and After Onset of a Severe Mental Disorder: A Case-Control Study.

OBJECTIVE: Individuals with severe mental disorders have an impaired ability to work and are likely to receive income transfer payments as their main source of income. However, the magnitude of this phenomenon remains unclear. Using longitudinal population cohort register data, the authors conducted a case-control study to examine the levels of employment and personal income before and after a first hospitalization for a serious mental disorder. METHODS: All individuals (N=50,551) who had been hospitalized for schizophrenia, other nonaffective psychosis, or bipolar disorder in Finland between 1988 and 2015 were identified and matched with five randomly selected participants who were the same sex and who had the same birth year and month. Employment status and earnings, income transfer payments, and total income in euros were measured annually from 1988 to 2015. RESULTS: Individuals with serious mental disorders had notably low levels of employment before, and especially after, the diagnosis of a severe mental disorder. Their total income was mostly constituted of transfer payments, and this was especially true for those diagnosed as having schizophrenia. More than half of all individuals with a serious mental disorder did not have any employment earnings after they received the diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: The current study shows how most individuals in Finland depend solely on income transfer payments after an onset of a severe mental disorder.

Effects of ACA Expansion of Dependent Coverage on Hospital-Based Care of Young Adults With Early Psychosis.

OBJECTIVE: Since 2010, the Affordable Care Act has required private health plans to extend dependent coverage to adults up to age 26. Because psychosis often begins in young adulthood, expanded private insurance benefits may affect early psychosis treatment. The authors examined changes in insurance coverage and hospital-based service use among young adults with psychosis before and after this change. METHODS: The study included a national sample (2006-2013) of discharges and emergency department visits. Using a difference-in-differences study design, the authors compared changes in insurance coverage (measured as payer source), per capita admissions, and 30-day readmissions for psychosis before and after ACA dependent coverage expansion among targeted individuals (ages 20-25) and a comparison group (ages 27-29). RESULTS: After dependent coverage expansion, hospitalization for psychosis among young adults was 5.8 percentage points more likely to be reimbursed by private insurance among the targeted age group (ages 20-25), compared with the slightly older age group (ages 27-29). Dependent coverage expansion was not associated with changes in overall insurance coverage, per capita admissions, or 30-day readmission for psychosis. CONCLUSIONS: Although dependent coverage expansion was unrelated to changes in use of hospital-based treatments for psychosis among young adults, care was more likely to be covered by private insurance, and coverage of these hospitalizations by public insurance decreased. This shift from public to private insurance may reduce public spending on young-adult treatments for early-episode psychosis but may leave young adults without coverage for rehabilitation services.

Impact of community-based rehabilitation for mental illness on 'out of pocket' expenditure in rural South India.

In India, expenditure incurred to access mental health services often drives families to economic crisis. Families of Persons with mental illness (PMI) incur 'out-of-pocket' (OOP) expenditure for medicines, psychiatrist fee and travel in addition to losing wages on the day of visiting psychiatrist. AIM: To describe impact of Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) on OOP expenditure incurred by families of persons with severe mental illness (PSMI). METHODS: The sample comprised 95 PSMI who switched from treatment from other mental health facilities to CBR at Jagaluru, India. RESULTS: The PSMI were predominantly male (52%) with mean age 41 years and diagnosed with psychosis (75%). Most of them (84%) were earlier taking treatment from private sector and spent on an average Rs. 15,074 (US $ 215) per PSMI per annum in availing treatment. After availing CBR, the annual expenditure reduced to Rs 492 (US $ 7) on an average per PSMI. OOP expenditure on medicines (largest head of expenditure) and psychiatrist consultation fee dropped to zero. DISCUSSION: After excluding costs incurred to run the CBR, the net savings for the system for 95 PSMI included in study alone was Rs 3,83,755 (US $ 5,482) per annum. The amount would be much higher on including savings for PSMI initiated on treatment for the first time and PMI on regular follow-up in CBR. CONCLUSIONS: Provision of CBR in partnership with public health system and NGO's leads to dramatic fall in OOP health expenditure of families of PSMI. It is also cost-effective to the system.

Costs and outcomes for individuals with psychosis prior to hospital admission and following discharge in Bulgaria.

PURPOSE: To examine the cost of psychotic disorders in Bulgaria prior to hospital admission and following discharge from two perspectives: healthcare and societal; and to evaluate the association between the costs and the patient's characteristics. METHODS: 96 individuals with psychosis experiencing psychotic exacerbation and their primary caregivers were evaluated upon the patients' hospital admission. The participants were followed up after 12 months. The costs were evaluated from healthcare and societal perspective using the Client's Sociodemographic and Service Receipt Inventory (CSSRI-EU). The psychopathology, functioning, quality of life and caregiver's burden were measured using standardized instruments. The mean differences in the costs and the associations with the clinical and socio-demographic characteristics of the patients were evaluated. RESULTS: The healthcare costs increase from EUR 120.66 (SD = 163.85) at baseline to EUR 177.54 (SD = 136.98) at follow-up. The total cost from societal perspective are up to sixfold higher than the healthcare costs at both assessments [EUR 717.41 (SD = 402.33) and 880.40 (SD = 1592.00), respectively] and do not change significantly. A major shift in the subtypes of costs, and significant associations of the costs with the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, were found. CONCLUSIONS: Psychotic disorders and psychotic exacerbations have high societal costs. The underfunding of mental healthcare in Bulgaria is at the expense of high caregivers' and societal cost. The treatment of psychotic exacerbation is effective and investment in mental healthcare for the improvement of the psychopathology, social functioning, quality of life and the burden of informal care should be viewed as a sustainable investment.

Estimated Staff Time Effort, Costs, and Medicaid Revenues for Coordinated Specialty Care Clinics Serving Clients With First-Episode Psychosis.

As coordinated specialty care for first-episode psychosis is implemented nationally, questions arise regarding financial sustainability. To address this, New York State undertook a time study in which 13 coordinated specialty care sites reported all activities provided to 75 randomly selected Medicaid clients with first-episode psychosis over a 2-week period. The average estimated cost was $1,375 per client per month, yet under optimal billing conditions, estimated revenues were only $662 per client per month, or 48% of the costs. These results underscore the need for continued subsidies and novel payment schemes for coordinated specialty care.

Design, Implementation, and Assessment of a Public Comprehensive Specialty Care Program for Early Psychosis.

INTRODUCTION: Promising outcomes from early psychosis intervention programs have prompted implementation of early psychosis initiatives nationwide through federal and state funding. The Enhanced Program for Early Psychosis (ePEP) model in north Texas is among the first, if not the first, of these state-funded initiatives to provide detailed reporting of its development and implementation. METHODS: Restrictive inclusion/exclusion criteria with a 1% eligibility rate resulted in a highly disadvantaged, predominantly minority sample with low educational attainment, prevalent mood disorders and substance misuse, and criminal justice involvement. Program progress was assessed over 1 year through structured diagnostic assessments and measures of psychotic symptoms, depression and anxiety symptoms, psychosocial functioning, and service utilization and costs. RESULTS: Implementation challenges included strict income/insurance inclusion and disqualification criteria for program participation, hiring and staff turnover problems, client transportation, and lack of available family to participate in family interventions. Despite these challenges, patients showed reduction in negative psychotic symptoms, hospitalization rates decreased from 29% to 5%, full-time employment improved from 6% to 24%, and probation/parole decreased from 24% to 5%. The mean 1-year per-patient cost was $10,639. Reduced negative symptoms and hospitalizations were associated with service use. DISCUSSION: The development and implementation of this pioneering state-funded early psychosis program, based on the National Institute of Mental Health's Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode (RAISE) initiative, provide experience and results to inform the implementation of future programs. Its demonstrated success, in spite of many implementation challenges, suggests the potential for future research, including randomized controlled trials to demonstrate substantial benefit and cost-effectiveness of early psychosis programs in real-world settings.