TITLE:
Strategies Used by Psychiatric Hospital Directors to Reduce Readmission Rates, Increase Revenue and Improve Patient Outcomes
AUTHORS:
K’chinwe Ezeokoli, Kim A. Critchlow
KEYWORDS:
Artificial Intelligence, Ethical AI Adoption, Responsible Innovation, AI Governance, Data Governance, Human Oversight, Workforce Training, Continuous Monitoring, Qualitative Pragmatic Inquiry
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Business and Management,
Vol.14 No.5,
September
2,
2026
ABSTRACT: High psychiatric readmission rates threaten patient stability, strain hospital finances, and reduce community wellbeing. Psychiatric hospital directors and policymakers need effective strategies to lower readmissions. Grounded in complex adaptive systems theory and the balanced scorecard framework, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry project was to identify and explore effective strategies used by psychiatric hospital directors to reduce readmission rates, increase revenue, and improve patient outcomes. The participants were seven psychiatric hospital directors who had implemented strategies for reduced readmission rates. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and relevant public documents. Using thematic analysis, five themes were identified: (a) readmission tracking task force, (b) operation within the state budget, (c) timely and effective discharge planning, (d) multidisciplinary team approach, and (e) readmission rate reductions. Key recommendation include for psychiatric hospital directors to understand the relationships among the variables in the discharge planning system, set short- and long-term goals and objectives, measure the outcomes and adjust as needed. The implications for positive social change include the potential for psychiatric hospital directors and organizations to implement the identified strategies, thereby reducing readmission rates, improving patient outcomes, and increasing revenues that can be used to help create healthy communities. Additionally, the implications may contribute to promoting the systematization of key processes within psychiatric hospitals to inspire and motivate stakeholders to work towards improving services to improve patients’ outcomes.