Mental Health Visits to Emergency Departments Increasing

Mental Health Visits to Emergency Departments Increasing

Recent reports say that the number of patients with psychiatric conditions seeking emergency care is increasing and that they have longer wait times.

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Long-wait times are common in the emergency rooms (ERs) of U.S. hospitals. As a medical transcription company, we support ER physicians with timely and accurate documentation to ensure proper medical charting for high-risk patients. Today, reports say that efficiency is more important than ever in the emergency department(ED) as mental health visits to hospital ERs are increasing.

A report published last year by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) points to the long waits for people who arrive in ERs with psychiatric conditions. A study from the University of Pennsylvania found that, compared to general medical patients: •

People who need mental health care wait on average almost two hours longer in the ER, and even longer if they need inpatient treatment.

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More than twice as many psychiatric patients as waited in the ER for more than 6 hours

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Psychiatric patients admitted for observation waited an average of more than an hour longer

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The average wait time of psychiatric patients who were transferred was about nearly three hours longer

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Psychiatric patients discharged from the ER waited an average of just over an hour longer

In a poll by the American College of Emergency Physicians, more than one in five emergency physicians reported they have patients waiting two or more days for in-patient psychiatric beds. Nearly 50% of the emergency physicians said psychiatric patients are kept in their ED as they wait for an in-patient bed one or more times a day.

There are many reasons why people with mental health problems have long wait times in ERs: ▪

Many ERs do not have the facilities to manage people with serious psychiatric problems

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They do not have psychiatrists or other mental health clinicians on staff to evaluate and treat mental health problems

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Psychiatric visits are increasing at a faster pace than general medical visits

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There is a shortage of psychiatric hospital beds

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Boarding psychiatric patients in an emergency department is expensive

According to an NPR report, pediatricians and child psychiatristssay that children with a psychiatric illness who land in ER are the worst hit. One researcher said that, most often, psychiatric patients who arrive at the ER in a crisis do not have a good place where they can continue treatment after they have been discharged from the ER. Young people are affected the most as there is a shortage of psychiatrists who specialize in treating them. Many emergency psychiatric patients also do not have health insurance coverage.

Recent reports indicate that some health systems are taking action to address this problem.

According to a recent Seven Days’ report, hospitals in Vermont are making heavy investments to accommodate psychiatric patients arriving in crisis. ERs are being built with facilities, including video monitoring gear, geared towards meeting the needs of these patients. They are also hiring mental health specialists and "patient safety associates", and conducting special training programs to manage the influx of patients with mental health issues. The report notes that many of the state’s hospitals are planning major investments in ERs for mental health care in 2018.

The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) provides comprehensive tips to help emergency physicians ensure efficiency and reduces long waits for patients: o

Stay focused on the work at hand.

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Don’t waste free time – use it for things like writing prescriptions and discharge orders.

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Set a plan of action for treatment quickly by building rapport among departments and getting all medical staff to keeping things moving in the ED to prevent long waits.

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Admit patients in crisis without waiting for test results

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Lower the admission threshold and admit patients faster.

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Focus on emergency care and refer patients with a chronic problem to an internist.

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If all patients in ER are stable, save time by dealing with the simple cases before going on to the time-consuming cases.

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Delegate to the staff as much as is possible.

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Order all necessary tests such as labs, X-rays and dispositions first to avoid delays, but avoid ordering unnecessary tests.

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Focus on managing a fixed number of patients efficiently and then moving those cases along.

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Review your pending cases to make sure they’re on track.

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Don’t lose sight of the big picture -- monitor flow for the entire department.

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Keeping a log can improve reporting to the physician, save time and enhance efficiency.

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Take short breaks to rest and renew energy levels.

Medical transcription outsourcing can play a significant role in the current ER scenario.

Whether emergency physicians are dealing with psychiatric patients in a crisis or general medical patients, an experienced medical transcription service provider can help ensure error-free medical records. These companies have expert teams that are well versed in the medical terminology and procedures specific to the ER. They can promptly produce accurate transcripts from dictated reports as they are familiar with the medical slang terms and short forms used by ER physicians. They can easily understand and transcribe terms related to surgical procedures, cardiac life support, trauma resuscitation, patient progress reports, history and physical reports, and chart notes. By delegating documentation to an experienced emergency room transcription service provider, ER physicians can focus better on providing efficient care and reducing patient wait times.

www.medicaltranscriptionservicecompany.com

(800) 670 2809