Georgia based Gwinnett Medical Center has developed an innovative solution in response to the growing number of psychiatric patients coming into its two hospitals’ emergency departments. They noted an annual increase of 20% over the last several years while only having a 1% overall increase in total ED visits. In response to this situation Gwinnett will… Read More
According to an article in Modern Healthcare, CMS announced in August 2017 that they will give inpatient psychiatric facilities a modest 1% Medicaid reimbursement increase in 2018 of $45 million. Medicare previously announced they would receive a $100 million increase in Medicare reimbursement in 2018 Excerpts include: The agency made the change via a notice… Read More
This Viewpoint discusses the apparent association between a reduction of psychiatric beds and increasing suicide rates in the United States, and proposes an expansion of inpatient psychiatric treatment facilities as a component of a national suicide prevention strategy. Source: Decline in Psychiatric Beds and Increase in US Suicide Rates | Psychiatry | JAMA | The… Read More
This Kaiser Health News article from November 16, 2016 examines one of the Modesto California demonstration projects uses alternative destination for psychiatric patients Training these first responders to identify people who are suffering from mental illness and connect them with treatment other than the emergency room could be part of the solution to gaps in the… Read More
From Modern Healthcare Psychiatric patients wait disproportionately longer in emergency departments before receiving treatment and experience longer stays compared to other medical patients, according to reports released Monday by the American College of Emergency Physicians. The three separate studies examined how emergency rooms care for patients with psychiatric conditions compared to other patients by looking… Read More
