Understanding the Landscape of Consultation Liaison Psychologists in Academic Medical Centers

Abstract

Current literature lacks data related to the role of psychologists on consultation-liaison (CL) services; previous data indicates only 4% of CL services are run by psychologists, while 32% of liaison mental health services include a psychologist. As CL psychologists’ roles within hospitals grow, it is critical to identify clinical strategies and organizational structures of CL services across hospital systems. The current study seeks to provide a deeper understanding of CL psychologists’ scope of work. Participants (N = 77) (15% response rate) completed a measure developed for this study, exploring psychologist roles, clinical practice, and departmental structures. Thirty-two percent of respondents were in Psychiatry Departments, 58% were in academic medical centers, almost half had training programs and the most frequently utilized billing code was: Given the limited data available, this study provided a contemporary and foundational understanding of the CL psychologist roles as well as future avenues of empirical inquiry such as discrete organization and structural characteristics.