Few hospitals screen for PTSD

Report finds few hospitals screen, provide services for PTSD
Bay State Banner
Lois Beckett
3/21/2014

Undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder is having a major impact on injured civilians, particularly those with violent injuries. One national study of patients with traumatic injuries found that more than 20 percent of them developed PTSD.

But many hospitals still have no systematic approach to identifying patients with PTSD or helping them get treatment.

ProPublica surveyed 21 top-level trauma centers in cities with high rates of violence. The results show that trauma surgeons across the country see PTSD as a serious problem. But only one trauma center, at the Interim LSU Public Hospital in New Orleans, actually screens all acutely injured patients for PTSD.

Why don’t hospitals do more to identify PTSD? Here is what surgeons and other trauma experts told ProPublica.

It’s too expensive
Paying for additional hospital staff to screen patients for PTSD and connect them with treatment might only cost $100,000 or $200,000 a year. But cash-strapped hospitals are often reluctant to incur any new expenses.

Doctors say they don’t screen for PTSD because they don’t know if their patients can get treatment
Another barrier to screening civilian patients for PTSD is a lack of mental health professionals in many communities.

Patients and their families often have little awareness of PTSD
One of the researchers who helped demonstrate the high rates of PTSD in civilian trauma patients is Dr. Gregory “Jerry” Jurkovich, who is now the chief of surgery and trauma services at Denver Health in Colorado.

Surgeons are just beginning to realize how many civilians get PTSD
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