Scott A Simpson1, Ryan M Loh2, Maximilliam Cabrera3, Megan Cahn4, Anne Gross5, Allison Hadley5, Ryan E Lawrence6. 1. Department of Behavioral Health Services, Denver Health, Denver, CO. Electronic address: scott.simpson@dhha.org. 2. Department of Behavioral Health Services, Denver Health, Denver, CO. 3. University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO. 4. Legacy Research Institute, Legacy Health, Portland, OR. 5. Department of Psychiatry, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, OR. 6. Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York City, NY.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been an increasing number of emergency department (ED) visits for behavioral health reasons, even as overall ED volumes have decreased. The impact of the pandemic and related public health interventions on specialized psychiatric emergency services has not been described. These services provide high intensity care for severely ill patients who are likely to be homeless and underserved. OBJECTIVE: We describe the change in total volume and psychiatric hospitalization rates among three psychiatric emergency services across the United States. METHODS: Change in volumes and hospitalization were assessed for statistical significance using a seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average with exogenous factors model from January 2018 to December 2020. RESULTS: The pandemic's impact on volumes and hospitalization varied by site. In Denver (CO), there was a statistically significant 9% decrease in overall volumes, although an 18% increase in hospitalizations was not significant. In New York City (NY), there was a significant 7% decrease in volumes as well as a significant 6% decrease in hospitalizations. In Portland (OR), volumes decreased by 4% and hospitalizations increased by 6% although differences did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSION: There has been a decrease in volume at these service after the pandemic, but there are substantial variations in the magnitude of change and demand for hospitalization by region. These findings suggest a need to understand where patients in crisis are seeking care and how systems of care must adapt to changing utilization in the pandemic era.
BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been an increasing number of emergency department (ED) visits for behavioral health reasons, even as overall ED volumes have decreased. The impact of the pandemic and related public health interventions on specialized psychiatric emergency services has not been described. These services provide high intensity care for severely ill patients who are likely to be homeless and underserved. OBJECTIVE: We describe the change in total volume and psychiatric hospitalization rates among three psychiatric emergency services across the United States. METHODS: Change in volumes and hospitalization were assessed for statistical significance using a seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average with exogenous factors model from January 2018 to December 2020. RESULTS: The pandemic's impact on volumes and hospitalization varied by site. In Denver (CO), there was a statistically significant 9% decrease in overall volumes, although an 18% increase in hospitalizations was not significant. In New York City (NY), there was a significant 7% decrease in volumes as well as a significant 6% decrease in hospitalizations. In Portland (OR), volumes decreased by 4% and hospitalizations increased by 6% although differences did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSION: There has been a decrease in volume at these service after the pandemic, but there are substantial variations in the magnitude of change and demand for hospitalization by region. These findings suggest a need to understand where patients in crisis are seeking care and how systems of care must adapt to changing utilization in the pandemic era.
Authors: Brent D Davis; Dawn Estes McKnight; Daniela Teodorescu; Anabel Quan-Haase; Rumi Chunara; Alona Fyshe; Daniel J Lizotte Journal: Int J Popul Data Sci Date: 2022-03-30
Authors: Kilian Lommer; Timo Schurr; Beatrice Frajo-Apor; Barbara Plattner; Anna Chernova; Andreas Conca; Martin Fronthaler; Christian Haring; Bernhard Holzner; Christian Macina; Josef Marksteiner; Carl Miller; Silvia Pardeller; Verena Perwanger; Roger Pycha; Martin Schmidt; Barbara Sperner-Unterweger; Franziska Tutzer; Alex Hofer Journal: Front Psychiatry Date: 2022-07-25 Impact factor: 5.435