Background: As the science of consultation-liaison psychiatry advances, the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry's Guidelines and Evidence-Based Medicine Subcommittee reviews articles of interest to help academy members remain familiar with the latest in evidence-based practice. Objective: We identify the 10 most important articles for clinical practice in consultation-liaison psychiatry from 2020 using the new Importance and Quality instrument for assessing scientific literature. Methods: The subcommittee published annotated abstracts for 97 articles on the academy website in 2020. Reviewers then rated all articles on clinical importance to practice and quality of scholarship using the Importance and Quality instrument. We describe the 10 articles with the highest aggregate scores and analyze the reliability of Importance and Quality instrument. Results: Twenty-four raters identified the top 10 scoring articles of 2020. These articles provide practical guidance on key areas of consultation-liaison psychiatry including management of COVID-19, lithium treatment for complex patients, medical risks among patients with severe mental illness, and substance use disorders in medical settings. The assessment instrument demonstrated good to excellent interrater reliability. Conclusion: These articles offer valuable guidance for consultation-liaison psychiatrists regardless of their practice area. Collaborative literature reviews with standardized assessments help clinicians deliver evidence-based care and foster a high standard of practice across the specialty.

BackgroundThe scientific literature in consultation-liaison psychiatry continually expands, and remaining familiar with the most current literature is challenging for practicing clinicians. The Guidelines and Evidence-Based Medicine Subcommittee of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry writes quarterly annotations of articles of interest to help Academy members gain familiarity with the most current evidence-based practices. These annotations are available on the Academy Website.ObjectiveWe identify the 10 most important manuscripts for clinical practice in consultation-liaison psychiatry from 2019.MethodsSixty-four abstracts were authored in 2019. Manuscripts were rated on clinical relevance to practice and quality of scholarship. The 10 articles with the highest aggregate scores from 19 raters are described.ResultsThe resulting articles provide practical guidance for consultation psychiatrists on several topic areas including the treatment of substance use disorders.ConclusionWe suggest that these clinical findings should be familiar to all consultation-liaison psychiatrists regardless of practice area. Regular article reviews and summaries help busy clinicians deliver cutting-edge care and maintain a high standard of care across the specialty.

Objective: The authors sought to determine whether a walk-in psychiatry model with longitudinal follow-up capability could improve access for patients who traditionally miss appointments. Methods: An urgent care clinic that offers treatment exclusively on a walk-in basis was opened within an adult psychiatry practice to accommodate patients who missed prior scheduled appointments. Electronic health records for patients who received an initial psychiatry evaluation at the practice during a 6-month period (N=355) were reviewed retrospectively to track the clinic's productivity and patient demographic characteristics. Results: Eighty patients (23%) accessed their initial psychiatry encounters through the walk-in clinic. Medicaid recipients odds ratio [OR] =1.89, 95% confidence interval [CI] =1.10-3.24) and individuals without a college degree (OR=1.86, 95% CI=1.04-3.32) were more likely than patients with other insurance carriers and those with a college degree, respectively, to access care through a walk-in encounter versus a scheduled appointment. Conclusions: Longitudinal walk-in psychiatry services can feasibly be offered through the longitudinal urgent care psychiatry model. This model may serve as a unique access point for patients from historically underserved groups.