The Psychologist's Role in the Emergency Room: A Comparative Study

Data were examined for psychologists compared with psychiatrists, a psychiatric team, and psychiatric residents' evaluations of a total of 258 patients in an inner-city hospital emergency room. Both patient presentation and medical and psychiatric evaluations did not vary over time. Other than the finding that psychologists initiated evaluations sooner and hospitalized fewer patients than did psychiatrists, there were no significant temporal or dispositional differences in decisions made between psychologists and the other evaluators. Temporal, diagnostic, and disposition factors are discussed.