Care Coordination

As behavioral health volumes rise and emergency departments contend with unpredictable medical surges, leaders at WellSpan’s Good Samaritan Hospital in Lebanon, Pa., implemented flexible-use rooms in its emergency department that can convert between medical and behavioral healthcare.  “We’ve seen a…

As behavioral health crises drive prolonged emergency department boarding and staff burnout, health systems are adopting targeted strategies to ease the burden and improve care transitions. From building dedicated billing teams to integrating technology into daily workflow, behavioral health leaders…

Behavioral health and substance use navigators are filling a longstanding gap in the continuum for health systems: connecting patients to aftercare. When behavioral health patients are discharged from the emergency department, ensuring they remain engaged with services can be a…

Las Vegas Recovery Hospital has begun operations as Southern Nevada’s first hospital to combine acute medical care and addiction recovery services, KSNV reported Jan. 29.  The 68-bed hospital spans 32,000 square feet and is operated by Lakewood, N.J.-based Lion Health…

St. Louis-based SSM Health has the highest capacity of psychiatric beds in Missouri. As a result, EMS providers often bypass other hospitals to bring patients directly to SSM for behavioral health services, Becky Dvorak, MSN, RN, regional vice president of…

As national emergency department demand has surged, Cincinnati Children’s — operator of the nation’s largest inpatient mental health hospital for children and adolescents — has taken a bundled approach to the pediatric behavioral health crisis.  The strategy spans integrated behavioral…

Behavioral health integration is a goal often cited by leaders with respect to healthcare transformation. Yet in practice, the term can lack consistent meaning. Eleven leaders shared with Becker’s what real behavioral health integration should look like — clinically, operationally…

Peer support specialists were linked to an average reduction of 43% in inpatient services and a 30% increase in outpatient visits, according to a January brief from the American Hospital Association. Hospitals and health systems are increasingly integrating peer support…

After decades of working with a third-party vendor, Marlton, N.J.-based Virtua Health is bringing behavioral health intake and insurance authorization in house, with the new model set to go live in late January.  Russ Micoli, vice president of behavioral health…