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By 2030, it is estimated that nearly 14 million Americans aged 56 years or older will have a mental health or substance use disorder – an increase of 57% from 2012.¹ This growing number has pushed behavioral health to the forefront of hospital strategic priorities.

Learn three ways a joint venture or contract management partnership can help streamline your hospital’s behavioral health offering to meet the needs of the aging patient population in 2024 and beyond.

1. 1. Length of Stay

When a patient is admitted to a hospital with both a physical and behavioral health illness, the likelihood of a prolonged length of stay (LOS) increases.² To address this issue, proactive integration of behavioral healthcare is critical.

An example of positive LOS outcomes following the introduction of behavioral health best practices is highlighted in an adult psychiatric ward study. Steps taken to achieve these outcomes include:³

• • • • Involving existing hospital professionals in the process and offering additional training and education to strengthen their skillsets to identify patients in need of behavioral health services.
      • Implementing one-hour daily management meetings in which all patients’ primary needs were discussed and next steps were identified.
      • Utilizing an interdisciplinary team specifically trained in streamlining the care process and producing optimal behavioral health outcomes.
      • Integrating pre-discharge communication with patients to identify potential issues that would lead to readmission or a failed discharge.

With guidance from a focused behavioral health expert, hospitals can more effectively integrate these best practices and resources.

1. 2. Behavioral Health Staffing

The psychiatrist workforce shortage is projected to rise through the end of 2024. If no workforce changes are made and other trends continue, there will only be about 14 psychiatrists per 100,000 American adults with mental illness and substance use disorders.⁴ However, the staffing shortage is not just limited to psychiatrists. Hospitals are facing shortages across the care continuum, hindering the delivery of effective post-acute care and emergency treatment within the emergency department (ED).

A partner with both local and national reach, in addition to having years of experience identifying behavioral health talent, can help a hospital hire and retain staff that will provide exceptional behavioral healthcare. This will help alleviate ED capacity strains while increasing patient satisfaction.

Once the behavioral healthcare team is in place, identifying when and how they will be engaged in the patient care journey is an important next step. For instance, schizophrenia patients who had regular, favorable interactions with their psychiatric nurses throughout their care journey demonstrated improved treatment adherence and punctual attendance at appointments.⁵

1. 3. Operational Efficiencies

A Milliman report found that 57% of patients considered “high-cost” also had a mental health or substance use disorder.⁶ To reduce unnecessary medical spending and address the needs of the high-cost patient population, hospitals are finding relief in a partner’s ability to improve efficiencies across the care continuum.

These areas include:

• • • • Emergency Department Relief: When the appropriate behavioral health resources are deployed across care settings, ED capacity strains can begin to be lifted. Getting patients out of the ED and to the right level of care improves outcomes, helps the ED focus on patients in need of emergency treatment and allows the entire hospital to run more efficiently.
      • Improved data access and sharing: A hospital’s ability to achieve better outcomes is impacted by its access to the latest behavioral health data and its ability to apply these findings at the local level.⁷ The right partner will have access to best-in-class resources to help apply learnings for improved patient outcomes.
      • Technology adoption: Increased technology utilization can enable providers to deliver preventive, personalized care solutions. Partnership can help hospitals gain access to the latest solutions without the heavy lift of developing from the ground up.

Partnership’s Role in Enhanced Adult Behavioral Healthcare

As the aging patient population continues to grow, so will the number of patients experiencing both mental and physical illnesses. Through the guidance of a behavioral health partner, hospitals can begin to see improvements in their performance, leading to optimal outcomes within the geriatric patient population.

Read our full white paper to learn how we can help your hospital optimize its current offering to meet the needs of the aging patient population.

References:

1. https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2015.0314
2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26022134/
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6231107/
4. https://ps.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ps.201700344
5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7737347/
6. https://www.milliman.com/-/media/milliman/pdfs/articles/milliman-high-cost-patient-study-2020.ashx
7. https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/health-care/future-of-behavioral-health.html