Children and adolescents seeking mental health treatment in an acute hospital emergency department are waiting longer for care, according to an April 2021 study in Pediatrics. Over the course of the decade between 2005 and 2015, the number of children’s ED mental health visits lasting more than 6 hours increased from 16.3 percent to 24.6 percent.
Timely Follow-Up Care After Psychiatric Hospitalization Key for Children and Adolescents
Getting outpatient mental health treatment with seven days of leaving a psychiatric hospital significantly reduces children’s and adolescents’ risk of suicide, according to a study published in the JAMA Network last summer. It’s long been known that the period immediately after a psychiatric inpatient stay is associated with a high risk of suicide and suicide attempts for children and adults, and that risk stays elevated for months, if not years. But, this study is among the first documenting that timely outpatient, follow-up care actually decreases that risk.
The Growing Trend of Law Enforcement/Behavioral Health Teams
Partnering law enforcement with behavioral health crisis teams is a growing trend. A recent story in The Coloradoan profiles Fort Collins’ approach over the last couple of years to pairing behavioral health co-responders with the town’s police officers. The co-responders are licensed therapists. Together, the police and therapists respond to 911 calls involving people in a mental health or substance abuse crisis.
The need for such partnerships is significant. For people experiencing a psychiatric crisis, jail is not a therapeutic environment, nor is an acute hospital emergency department where these individuals are often held for hours, if not days.
Emergency Department Overcrowding & Innovation for the Future
As emergency facilities quickly become overwhelmed and overcrowded, the speed of patient transfer has become more important than ever to address the surge of COVID-19 patients. A Health System's ability to effectively manage the flow of patients throughout the health system both reduces patient transfer times and ED overcrowding. As a result the entire health of the population is improved.
Timeliness of Care Demands Real-Time Information Sharing
The behavioral health care crisis of the last decade has spurred many states to look to bed registries as a solution for improving care capacity. At least 16 states have implemented an online registry to provide insight into which inpatient facilities have available beds. Other states are in various stages of analysis and preparation to implement registries.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the entire health care infrastructure reveals what was once considered a reasonable solution to improving bed availability to be incomplete.
HOW TEXAS PANHANDLE CENTERS MADE MAJOR STRIDES IN ASSESSING AND GETTING HELP FOR JAILED MENTAL HEALTH PATIENTS
Formed in 2000 via a merger between the Texas Panhandle Mental Health Authority (TPMHA) and Amarillo State Center (ASC), the Texas Panhandle Centers (TPC) represents the citizens of the upper twenty-one counties of the Texas Panhandle, serving more than 7,000 individuals with severe mental illness, intellectual and developmental disabilities and children with developmental delays. The Center has service centers located in seven locations in the Texas Panhandle: Amarillo, Borger, Clarendon, Dumas, Hereford, Pampa and Perryton.
We spoke recently with Libby Moore, Chief Clinical Officer at Texas Panhandle Centers, and Maira Argomaniz, Jail Services Program Manager of its behavioral health programs, about some innovative initiatives they have implemented that have made a huge difference in their community.
XFERALL Patient Transfer Network | COVID Q&A
XFERALL Patient Transfer Newsletter | Volume 3 | September 2020
XFERALL Patient Transfer Newsletter | Volume 2 | June, 2020
XFERALL Patient Transfer Newsletter | Volume 1 | May, 2020
How Denton County MHMR Center Reduced Patient Transfer Times
With any medical emergency, time is of the essence to recovery and survival. Mental health emergencies are no exception. Getting a patient to the right care in the shortest amount of time is paramount to positive outcomes. However, many times the still-used methods for transferring patients to the right facilities are outdated, slow, and cumbersome.
Texas Local Mental Health Authority Implements Patient Transfer Technology
Brittany Waymack is the administrator of the mobile crisis outreach team and Veronica Armendariz is the program manager of the mobile crisis outreach team at Denton County MHMR, a Texas Local Mental Health Authority. Brittany and Veronica recently participated in a post-implementation interview to discuss the recent implementation of XFERALL and how the platform has helped them service the mental health patients in Denton County, Texas.
XFERALL Donates 500 KN95 Masks to The Harris Center’s Crisis Intervention Response Team
Houston, TX, June 1, 2020 - XFERALL, a leading mobile application that automates the process of transferring acute and behavioral patients to inpatient psychiatric facilities, completed a donation of 500 KN95 masks to the Crisis Intervention Response Team at The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD in Houston, TX.
Electronic Behavioral Health Patient Transfer Network Decreases Patient Placement Times by 91.6%
Data Suggests Unexpected Behavioral Health Surge On Its Way
Behavioral Health CEO Discusses Benefits of Automated Patient Transfer Network
COVID-19 Pandemic Increases Mental Health Concerns
XFERALL Behavioral Health Patient Transfer Network Launches in Georgia
The XFERALL Behavioral Health Patient Transfer Network Launched in Georgia. On March 2, 2020 healthcare facilities in Georgia will start using an automated behavioral health patient transfer network to improve access for high acuity behavioral health patients. The automated network is available for healthcare facilities and providers via mobile app or as a web-based platform to quickly connect patients with needed behavioral health treatment. The platform has demonstrated results to reduce wait times for patients, improve access to care, and create cost savings .
Managing ED Surge: Lessons Learned from Emergency Department Director
Summary: Heather Lee, RN is the Emergency Department Director at North Texas Medical Center in Gainesville, Texas north of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Heather recently participated in a post implementation interview to discuss her current challenges as an Emergency Department Director in the management of patient flow, ED throughput and inter facility transfer and the results and outcomes her team at North Texas Medical Center experienced after joining the Patient Transfer Network through XFERALL.
Impact of the Behavioral Health Crisis on Emergency Departments
XFERALL has released a White Paper on the Financial and Clinical Impact of the Behavioral Health Crisis on Emergency Departments and an overview of solutions for the Healthcare System to improve patient care, improve efficiency and reduce cost. The national behavioral health crisis has caused increases by over 40% of behavioral health patients presenting to emergency departments in crisis. As a result, the length of stay for patients in the emergency department has significantly increased at a great financial and patient care cost to health systems. In-depth information about the impact of the behavioral health crisis and the solutions that many hospitals have collectively joined together to solve are available in White Paper, The Financial and Clinical Impact of the Behavioral Health Crisis on EDs.