Background and Significance
Decreasing resources for outpatient psychiatric services in the community have increased ER presentations of patients with psychiatric concerns. Many ERs are not equipped to assess patients with psychiatric problems, as a result a patient with psychiatric concerns can wait 12-24 hours in the ER for assessment, a practice known as boarding, which has been reported to cost hospital systems approximately $2,264 per patient on average. (Nicks & Manthey, 2012). This has can cause poor outcomes for patients who may leave without being clinically assessed, or may experience increased agitation and anxiety that is potentially detrimental both for staff and patients (Richardson, 2006, Weiss et al., 2012).
Crisis stabilization
Decreasing resources for outpatient psychiatric services in the community have increased ER presentations of patients with psychiatric concerns. Many ERs are not equipped to assess patients with psychiatric problems, as a result a patient with psychiatric concerns can wait 12-24 hours in the ER for assessment, a practice known as boarding, which has been reported to cost hospital systems approximately $2,264 per patient on average. (Nicks & Manthey, 2012). This has can cause poor outcomes for patients who may leave without being clinically assessed, or may experience increased agitation and anxiety that is potentially detrimental both for staff and patients (Richardson, 2006, Weiss et al., 2012).
Crisis stabilization