Abstract Transitions in care are vulnerable periods for individuals with mental health illness. A network of therapeutic relationships during transitional period assists in discharge planning and recovery. This study evaluated the cost-effectiveness of the implementation of the transitional discharge model (TDM), an intervention for community integration of clients with mental health illness. This study used a participatory action research design to evaluate TDM implementation in nine hospitals across Ontario, Canada. The study enrolled 370 participants from participating hospitals. The analyses compared data on readmissions, length of stay, and hospitals spending that were collected at three points in time: prior and after four and eight months of TDM implementation. Corresponding results indicated no statistically significant differences in pre and post-intervention readmission means. The average length of stay, in eight months following the implementation, decreased by 9.8 days; however, results showed no statistically significant difference between pre and post-intervention median length of stay (mean rank = 6.63 vs. 5.64), Z = −0.585, p = 0.592). Additionally, comparisons of implementation cost to hospital spending found a total savings of $3,392,810. In addition to cost-savings to the health care system as demonstrated by reduced length of stay, TDM implementation provides cost-effective supports to help keep clients in the community and out of the hospital. As such, TDM implementation provides mental health practice and policy one of the unique opportunities for effective discharge of clients from hospital to community mental health services, through early discharge planning and connecting clients to community peer support system.

中文翻译：

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实施过渡出院模式以整合精神病患者的成本效益：实践见解和政策含义

摘要对于精神健康患者，护理过渡是脆弱的时期。过渡时期的治疗关系网络有助于出院计划和恢复。这项研究评估了过渡出院模型（TDM）实施的成本效益，该模型是对患有精神疾病的客户进行社区整合的一项干预措施。这项研究使用参与式行动研究设计来评估加拿大安大略省9家医院的TDM实施情况。该研究招募了参与医院的370名参与者。这些分析比较了在三个时间点（实施TDM的前后四个月和八个月之后）收集的有关再入院，住院时间和医院支出的数据。相应的结果表明，干预前和干预后的再入院率均无统计学差异。实施后八个月的平均住院时间减少了9.8天；然而，结果显示干预前后中位住院时间之间无统计学差异（平均等级= 6.63对5.64），Z = -0.585，p = 0.592）。此外，将实施成本与医院支出进行比较，共节省了3,392,810美元。除了可以通过减少住院时间来证明可以节省医疗保健系统的成本外，TDM的实施还提供了具有成本效益的支持，以帮助客户保持在社区内和医院之外。因此，