Mercy, based in Chesterfield, Mo., has scaled a virtual behavioral health division across four states, serving 35 hospitals and delivering psychiatric interventions to patients in crisis.
The model enables rapid evaluation of behavioral health patients, reduces unnecessary inpatient admissions and expands access to psychiatric expertise, Patty Morrow, vice president of behavioral health services, told Becker’s.
“Anywhere we have an emergency room, whether that’s a large urban facility or small critical access hospitals, our virtual behavioral health team is able to care for patients in real time in all of those settings,” Ms. Morrow said.
The model has allowed for the discharge of 30% to 35% of behavioral health patients entering the emergency department in a crisis. Ms. Morrow noted that hospitals without such interventions see nearly 95% to 100% of these patients being admitted to behavioral health beds.
A team of interdisciplinary clinicians, including master’s degree-level licensed clinicians, advanced psychiatric nurse practitioners and psychiatrists deliver virtual behavioral healthcare to emergency departments and other units within the hospital, 24/7.
“There’s really no place within those 35 hospitals that we cannot care for a patient … emergency departments, medical floors, ICU environments, pediatric areas and women’s health areas,” Ms. Morrow said.
The system uses a standardized Epic referral process to alert the behavioral health virtual team, with an evaluation beginning within 60 minutes. Ms. Morrow said 85% of this care is delivered through virtual solutions.
“Last year, we served 37,000 people through that department, and most of those individuals are people that would have never had access to a behavioral health specialist or a psychiatric nurse practitioner, or a psychiatrist,” she said.
For discharged patients, Ms. Morrow emphasized the system’s focus on follow-up care. Patients may receive inpatient or outpatient care within Mercy or be referred to its community mental health center partners.
“Our strategy has been to really align with those community organizations to make sure we have warm handoffs in communities and regions where we may not offer an intensive outpatient program,” she said.
