title: States leverage telepsychiatry solutions to ease ED crowding, accelerate care.
abstract: Many states are having success turning to telepsychiatry-based solutions to connect mental health patients with needed care while also decompressing crowded EDs. Just one year into a statewide telepsychiatry initiative in North Carolina (NC-STeP), administrators say the approach has saved as much as $7 million, and hospital demand for the service is higher than anticipated. In Texas, mental health emergency centers (MHEC) that use telepsychiatry to connect patients in rural areas with needed psychiatric care are freeing up EDs to focus on medical care. In just 11 months, 91 North Carolina hospitals have at least started the process to engage in NC-STeP. Much of the savings from NC-STeP come from involuntary commitment orders being overturned as a result of the telepsychiatry consults, reducing the need for expensive inpatient care. Implementing NC-STeP has involved multiple hurdles including credentialing difficulties and technical/firewall challenges. The Texas model provides 24/7 availability of psychiatrists via telemedicine through a network of MHECs. In-person staff at the MHECs perform basic screening tests and blood draws so that medical clearance can be achieved without the need for an ED visit in most cases. Funding for the MHECs comes from the state, hospitals in the region, and local governmental authorities that reap savings or benefits from the initiative.
mesh_terms: D003441:Crowding; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D006801:Humans; D009657:North Carolina; D011570:Psychiatry; D017216:Telemedicine; D013781:Texas