Addressing Barriers to Care: Strategies for the Management of Patients with Schizophrenia

Until the past decade, there was generally a pessimistic attitude about the treatment of patients with schizophrenia and their outcomes. One key concept that has been identified as critical in optimizing the care and outcomes of patients is continuity of care by a team of healthcare providers. Continuity of care is widely viewed as a key quality indicator for outpatient mental health care and is essential to prevention of relapse and re-hospitalization. Yet, progress has lagged in the implementation and measurement of continuity of care in clinical practice.

In a recent educational activity by CME Outfitters, over 220 psychiatrists responded that their main reason for not changing practice immediately regarding continuity of care was they did not know where to start, demonstrating a gap in knowledge and performance regarding the implementation of this process in clinical practice. A first step to improving care is identifying the barriers that exist. Patient barriers, physician barriers and system barriers can be significant obstacles requiring education of the entire mental healthcare team in order to begin to break down the walls and allow clinicians to provide the best care for each patient. The identification of the barriers can be the first step in empowering both the provider and the patient. This can highlight to psychiatrists, other healthcare providers, payors, and healthcare systems what barriers may exist and how they are impacting the outcomes and lives of patients. I

n this neuroscienceCME Live and On Demand activity, faculty will highlight barriers to optimal care and their impact on the outcomes and lives of patients with schizophrenia and propose practical strategies and tools that can be utilized to improve the care of patients with schizophrenia. This activity also includes a special "After the Show" segment during which the faculty answers additional audience questions in an informal Q&A session.

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