[Subscription Rates of Psychiatric Patients to an Integrated Care Program in the Context of a Psychiatric Model Project]

In the past years different model projects have been developed in Germany to counteract the known deficits of the German psychiatric care system. Among these, an "integrated care" model project has been set up which offers a more flexible way of managing psychiatric care, especially for patients with a severe mental illness. It however implies an active subscription to the program. In this study we analyzed factors influencing patients' subscription rates. Subscription rates during the first 18 months of the program were analyzed with regard to the patients' main diagnoses and gender. We found an overall subscription rate of 59.3 %. Diagnosis explained 24.1 % of the overall variance of the inpatients' subscription rate. This effect was significantly smaller in outpatients. No effect of gender could be observed. The highest subscription rate was found by patients with an affective disorder. Only 34.6 % of the patients with an F2 diagnosis subscribed. The target groups of the program could not be sufficiently reached in this model. The need of a new legal basis for psychiatric care models, namely a subscription-free program, is thereby reinforced.