A Florida psychiatric hospital is accused of inappropriately admitting patients involuntarily to help increase revenue
“In its letter this week, the Department of Children and Families expressed particular concern about the unit’s elderly patients. It noted that the unit’s admissions among that age group were roughly twice the state average. And it cited numbers showing that most admissions throughout the unit were conducted on an involuntary basis.

Moreover, the agency raised questions about the involuntary admission of patients who were simply “confused,” “paranoid” or “agitated.”

Since then, Skolnick has identified the unit as a clear moneymaker. Based on information from the Ingenix health care database, she calculated that both admissions and prices at the hospital’s psychiatric unit were more than double the state’s average. Thus, she called the unit a ‘very busy’ place.”