Inpatient Unit(s) Processes

Inpatient Behavioral Health

Penn Highlands DuBois Behavioral Health Services

Inpatient Admission Procedure

Marcy Murphy
Admissions and Community Relations Specialist
(814) 661-3108 cell
mamurphy@phhealthcare.org

I.

Admission criteria:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

II.

Suicidal
Homicidal
Psychotic
Other danger to self or others
Severe behavioral deficits (children/adolescents)

How to refer a patient for possible admission:

a. Referral: Call the appropriate unit directly and tell the answering individual you have a referral.
- Must provide referral informationmust be done by a professional.
- After providing the needed referral information, the on-call psychiatrist will be contacted
for patient admission / denial.

Child/Adolescent Unit (814) 375-6363 Fax (814)375-6359

Flex Unit (814) 375-6590
Fax (814) 375-6168
Adult Unit (814) 375-6337
Fax (814)375-6345
Direct admission (referral form)
-

if accepted, the pt may be admitted directly to our unit (to be decided by the psychiatrist
considered case by case) patient will be admitted directly onto the appropriate unit.

Admission via Medical Clearance

-

if pt has known or potential medical conditions or concernsour psychiatrist will accept

their admission pending their medical clearanceour ambulance will transport the patient
to our (DRMC) E.R. for medical evaluation and admission clearance.

b. Face to Face Evaluation (a therapist will conduct an evaluation for potential inpatient care while
the patient is in the DRMC E.R. and will complete the admissions process from there). If inpatient
criteria is not met, referral back to outpatient or other services will be made.

III.

Types of Admissions
a. 201 Voluntary: childs parents can sign a child/adolescent into treatment if age 17 years or under; a child
age 14 yrs. and older can sign themselves in without parental consent.

b. 302 Involuntary: if psychiatric treatment is warranted but the patient or the patients parent(s) are unwilling
to sign the child in for treatment. Our E.D. doctors will evaluate and complete page 7 of the commitment. Our
f2f staff will meet the pt at the ED and help facilitate that process.
- one-doctor/two-doctor
- delegate

IV.

Other Important Concerns/Issues:

a. Insurance pre-certification of services: we will do ALL precerts of insurances
b. Transportation we can provide transportation for accepted patients via ambulance or

constables if other sources of transportation are unavailable.

c. Gas cards : assistance may be possible, pending the situation.
November 2012

Inpatient Unit(s) Processes

Inpatient Behavioral Health

D.R.M.C. Help Line 1-877-797-1685 (answered 24/7 by professional staff personnel)

November 2012