How One State Is Solving An Emergency Room Crisis
Massachusetts is alleviating emergency rooms overcrowded with mental health patients by setting up areas for care outside of a hospital setting.
The emergency room crisis has escalated in the last number of years due to understaffing and lack of funding, but one state has decided that there is a solution. In Massachusetts, it has been reported that teenagers having a mental health crisis could spend days or weeks on a gurney waiting for a space in the adolescent psychiatric unit. This is not the only place that this happens, as the problem known as “boarding” has been escalating throughout the US over the last ten years.
During the pandemic, hospitals reported record numbers of patients “boarding” as the emergency room crisis was pushed to its limits. In what people call the world’s most powerful country, how can our children not get the help they need when in distress? Many other people feel the same way, and in Massachusetts, medical professionals have come up with a solution.
They are starting to provide urgent mental health care outside a hospital setting, whether in the emergency room or anywhere else. This reduces the strain on the health system and eases the stress on patients. They will no longer have to wait days or weeks to receive treatment. The state of Massachusetts has set up a contract with four counseling agencies. These agencies will provide at-home counseling to anyone who needs it through an emergency department diversion program. It seems like it has begun a positive change that other states will use as a model to deal with the “boarding” problem.
A psychological evaluation is completed initially to determine the extent of each child’s problem. Once that is complete, a plan is made for what treatment is best for that child, depending on the evaluation results. After that, any safety sweeps or arrangements that need to be made are completed.
Early statistics show that opting for at-home counseling instead of psychiatric hospitalization is working. Of 536 children, 82% have not returned to the hospital with a mental health relapse, and 92% have met their treatment goals. The only negatives from these courses that medical professionals have received are that there aren’t enough resources to help more children, and the treatment price is quite steep.
On average, it costs over $8,000 for a typical course of at-home counseling, including three-hour counseling sessions for twelve weeks. While it may sound extremely expensive, it is still cheaper than having a child stay at a pediatric boarding which charges over $200 an hour, and that is before the cost of a psychiatric hospital.
The hospital admission numbers for mental health in children are also down as families are being referred to this new treatment plan, which shows that not only is it helping children with their mental health, but it is also helping overworked hospital staff and reducing the emergency room crisis.
This new treatment plan seems like an excellent way to help children deal with mental health problems, as they are comfortable in their own homes rather than in a clinical room. If it continues to be as successful, other states will inevitably implement this, and the emergency room crisis will start to reduce.
