Mark D Pearlmutter1, Kristin H Dwyer2, Laura G Burke3, Niels Rathlev4, Louise Maranda5, Greg Volturo6. 1. Department of Emergency Medicine, Steward St Elizabeth's Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA. Electronic address: mark.pearlmutter.md@steward.org. 2. Department of Emergency Medicine, Rhode Island Hospital, Brown Medical School, Providence, RI. 3. Department of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. 4. Department of Emergency Medicine, Baystate Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine. 5. Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Medical School. 6. Department of Emergency Medicine, University Mass Memorial Medical Center.
Abstract
STUDY OBJECTIVE: Prolonged boarding times in the emergency department (ED) disproportionately affect mental health patients, resulting in patient and provider dissatisfaction and increased patient morbidity and mortality. Our objective is to quantify the burden of mental health boarding and to elucidate the effect of insurance together with demographic, social, and comorbid factors on length of stay. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional observational study of 871 consecutive patients requiring an ED mental health evaluation at one of 10 unaffiliated Massachusetts hospitals. Demographics; insurance; length of stay; medical, psychiatric, and social history; and disposition data were collected. We evaluated the effect of these characteristics on boarding time. RESULTS: ED median length of stay varied greatly by disposition, driven primarily by ED boarding time. Admitted and transferred patients had longer delays than discharged patients (5.63, 9.32, and 1.23 hours, respectively). Medical clearance time (1.40 hours) composed only 10.5% of total ED length of stay and varied little by insurance. In our multivariate analyses, patients with Medicaid and the uninsured had significantly longer total lengths of stay and were more than twice as likely to remain in the ED for 24 hours or greater compared with privately insured patients. CONCLUSION: Mental health patients in Massachusetts have lengthy ED visits, particularly those requiring inpatient admission. Boarding time accounts for the majority of total ED length of stay and varies by insurance, even when other factors known to affect ED length of stay are controlled. Efforts to improve timeliness of care for mental health emergencies should focus on reducing ED boarding and eliminating disparities in care by insurance status.
STUDY OBJECTIVE: Prolonged boarding times in the emergency department (ED) disproportionately affect mental health patients, resulting in patient and provider dissatisfaction and increased patient morbidity and mortality. Our objective is to quantify the burden of mental health boarding and to elucidate the effect of insurance together with demographic, social, and comorbid factors on length of stay. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional observational study of 871 consecutive patients requiring an ED mental health evaluation at one of 10 unaffiliated Massachusetts hospitals. Demographics; insurance; length of stay; medical, psychiatric, and social history; and disposition data were collected. We evaluated the effect of these characteristics on boarding time. RESULTS: ED median length of stay varied greatly by disposition, driven primarily by ED boarding time. Admitted and transferred patients had longer delays than discharged patients (5.63, 9.32, and 1.23 hours, respectively). Medical clearance time (1.40 hours) composed only 10.5% of total ED length of stay and varied little by insurance. In our multivariate analyses, patients with Medicaid and the uninsured had significantly longer total lengths of stay and were more than twice as likely to remain in the ED for 24 hours or greater compared with privately insured patients. CONCLUSION: Mental health patients in Massachusetts have lengthy ED visits, particularly those requiring inpatient admission. Boarding time accounts for the majority of total ED length of stay and varies by insurance, even when other factors known to affect ED length of stay are controlled. Efforts to improve timeliness of care for mental health emergencies should focus on reducing ED boarding and eliminating disparities in care by insurance status.
Authors: Anne C Knorr; Brooke A Ammerman; Sean A LaFleur; Debdipto Misra; Mathrawala A Dhruv; Bipin Karunakaran; Robert J Strony Journal: J Am Coll Emerg Physicians Open Date: 2020-05-25
Authors: Kathleen C Thomas; Hillary Owino; Sana Ansari; Leslie Adams; Julianne M Cyr; Bradley N Gaynes; Seth W Glickman Journal: Adm Policy Ment Health Date: 2018-07
Authors: Jayamalathi Priyanka Vakkalanka; Karisa K Harland; Amy Wittrock; Margaret Schmidt; Luke Mack; Matthew Nipe; Elaine Himadi; Marcia M Ward; Nicholas M Mohr Journal: J Epidemiol Community Health Date: 2019-09-06 Impact factor: 3.710
Authors: Tony W Thrasher; Martha Rolli; Robert S Redwood; Michael J Peterson; John Schneider; Lisa Maurer; Michael D Repplinger Journal: WMJ Date: 2019-12
Authors: Katelyn E Hall; Andrew A Monte; Tae Chang; Jacob Fox; Cody Brevik; Daniel I Vigil; Mike Van Dyke; Katherine A James Journal: Acad Emerg Med Date: 2018-04-10 Impact factor: 3.451
Authors: Jungyeon Kim; Brian J Yun; Emily L Aaronson; Haytham M A Kaafarani; Pamela Linov; Sandhya K Rao; Jeffery B Weilburg; Jarone Lee Journal: PLoS One Date: 2018-08-20 Impact factor: 3.240