People experiencing a psychiatric crisis -- considering suicide, for example -- need immediate psychiatric help. But, unless they have done something physically to attempt suicide, such as overdosing on pills, they very likely do not also need emergent medical attention. Yet, too often, a 911 call for help ends with EMS transport to the hospital emergency room, and only hours, and sometimes even days, later is the individual transferred to an appropriate behavioral health facility.
Partnering with XFERALL makes timely, direct transport by EMS to behavioral health facilities possible, allowing patients experiencing a behavioral health crisis to avoid unnecessary and, often, lengthy and untherapeutic hospital ED stays.
The Plano Fire-Rescue Experience
The community paramedicine team with Plano Fire-Rescue in Plano, Texas began using XFERALL in 2019 when they respond to behavioral health crisis calls to facilitate direct transfer of patients to psychiatric facilities.
“XFERALL keeps us from having to go to a hospital emergency room, which keeps hospitals happy and is better for patients with a behavioral health need, said Josh Clouse, community paramedicine coordinator, Plano Fire-Rescue. “We can direct admit to the most appropriate behavioral health facility for that patient.”
Prior to partnering with XFERALL, in order to bypass the hospital emergency department and direct admit to a psychiatric facility, the community paramedics would have to sit in their cars after assessing an individual and cold call behavioral health facilities one at a time to find an available bed. This process would consume several hours of their time, meaning they weren’t available for other 911 calls. With XFERALL on their tablets or laptops, the paramedics initiate outreach simultaneously to multiple behavioral health facilities while they are engaging with the person in crisis. The process of getting the person in crisis to appropriate care starts sooner and is much faster from start to finish.
“XFERALL provides the speed and ability to communicate with the facilities you want to communicate with in a matter of seconds,” said Clouse. “And it’s all tracked.”
With one click, a request, backed up with sufficient and appropriate information, to directly admit is transmitted to all the behavioral health facilities on the XFERALL platform. Facilities respond if they have appropriate clinical capacity, and through the platform, the paramedic and facility communicate about transfer, including sharing relevant clinical and diagnostic information. Included in this information is the paramedic’s notes to document that the patient does not have an urgent medical need that requires hospital ED involvement.
“The advantages of XFERALL are many,” said Dr. Mark Gamber, medical director, Plano Fire-Rescue. “But one of the most significant is our ability to upload notes to the patient transfer record. We can include vital information about the patient’s medical history and condition and confirm that the patient does not have an emergent medical condition. This information gives the receiving behavioral health facility confidence that they can direct admit the patient for the behavioral health need and not have to also manage an urgent physical health condition.”
Maximizing Hospital ED and EMS Capacity
With hospitals experiencing both record demand for care because of COVID-19 and serious staffing shortages, hospital emergency departments are at capacity or, in many cases, over capacity. Adding patients who are waiting for transfer to a psychiatric facility to an already-overcrowded ED means even fewer beds and resources available for patients experiencing heart attacks, strokes, gun shot wounds, injuries, and other medical emergencies.
“Directly admitting patients in crisis to psychiatric facilities is a win-win-win for hospital ED clinicians, EMS, and, most importantly, patients,” said Gamber. ED staff don’t have to take time away from the bedside to get a behavioral health patient transferred. EMS teams don’t get backed up because there aren’t enough ED beds. And, patients in crisis don’t have to wait in an environment that is likely overwhelming and not designed to provide the intensive level of behavioral health care needed.
“XFERALL identified the problem with inefficient behavioral health patient transfers and built a solution to fix it,” said Gamber. “It’s easy to use and empowers EMS teams to quickly place patients in crisis in appropriate care.”
Contact XFERALL today or schedule a demo directly to see we can help your EMS and hospital teams more efficiently manage placement of behavioral health patients.