Gain Emergency Room Efficiencies by Improving Care for Behavior Health Patients

Faced with a surge of behavioral health patients presenting to the emergency department, Vituity physicians developed a solution that provides better care for these patients while improving throughput for all patients seen in the ED.

Published June 16, 2022

Medical Professional holding patient's hand

Minimizing Emergency Department Wait Times and Care Delays

From 2006 to 2021, the percentage of emergency department patients with mental health and substance use concerns more than doubled to 12% of all patients. Unfortunately, most EDs are ill-equipped to treat behavioral health complaints, and these patients often endure long wait times and delays in therapeutic care. These delays for individual patients also create department-wide backups that lead to delays for all patients in the ED.

Enhancing Care for Patients in Psychiatric Crisis Through Emergency Psychiatric Intervention (EPI)

In 2015, Vituity physicians recognized the growing number of patients seeking behavioral healthcare in the emergency department. We brought together a multidisciplinary team of emergency physicians and psychiatrists who developed the Emergency Psychiatric Intervention (EPI) toolkit. EPI ensures that emergency physicians are empowered to more efficiently evaluate and treat behavioral health patients from the moment they enter the ED through discharge.

At its core, the EPI approach includes expertise and proven results in three areas:

Elimination of over-processing
Risk stratification and split flow processing
Early and appropriate medication management

By eliminating unnecessary roadblocks to expedite treatment, patients receive earlier assessments and differentiated care based on the diagnosed need. This is achieved through a comprehensive education program and toolkit on behavioral healthcare best practices that minimize patient holding and improve care quality and patient experience.

This team has found a way to better meet the behavioral health needs of patients. And, what makes the tool special is how simple it is to implement, and the potential time and cost savings for care and treatment.

Robert Gebbia

CEO, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Improved Quality of Care and Faster Throughput Times for All Emergency Department Patients

EPI was first piloted at four Ascension hospital locations in and around Chicago. Before implementation, all sites experienced high volumes of behavioral health patients in their EDs and were looking for a risk stratification method and new medication protocols that lead to more efficient and accurate diagnoses and treatment and faster discharge rates.

The participating locations achieved remarkable results within six months after implementing EPI. Across all four hospitals, teams dramatically improved the quality of care and achieved faster throughput times, leading to measurable financial ROI for the health system.

43-minute decrease in time to provider across four hospitals
Use of restraints reduced by over 50%
$480,000 ROI for the health system

Transforming the Emergency Department for All Stakeholders

The impact of effectively and compassionately serving all ED patients, including those with behavioral health conditions, is profound.

Hospitals and health systems improve clinical quality, profitability, and patient scores.
EDs achieve higher throughput and better care for all, with fewer behavioral patient admissions and more stable, engaged staff.
Providers gain new confidence in their ability to heal, rekindling the joy of practicing medicine.

Thanks to the positive response by all stakeholders across health systems throughout the country, Vituity was recognized in 2021 by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP).

Partnering to improve patient lives

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