Behavioral Health Urgent Care Is on the Rise in America
Behavioral health urgent care is on the rise in America. We have witnessed its emergence ourselves. Other behavioral health management companies have seen it, too. All around the country, a greater emphasis on behavioral and mental health is encouraging providers to find new ways to provide patients with the necessary services.
For example, officials in Watertown, NY have recently been touting the opening of a brand-new behavioral health urgent care center designed to provide 24/7 care to local residents suffering from mental health crises. The facility is unique to that part of northern New York State — but it is not as unique as it would have been 10 years ago.
How about your facility? Has there been any talk of expanding into behavioral health urgent care? From a management standpoint, expanding into urgent care could be exactly what providers in your community need.
The Urgent Care Concept
The urgent care concept is easy to understand in the physical health arena. Most of us have personal experience of it by way of opting to visit an urgent care center after hours rather than going to a more expensive emergency department. Urgent care facilities can provide high quality care when complicated triage and trauma are not part of the equation.
Urgent care has proved invaluable for treating physical health emergencies that do not require ER intervention. So why not apply the same model to mental health crises? If nothing else, behavioral health urgent care can reduce patient volumes in busy hospital EDs.
Behavioral Health Urgent Care for Kids
Providing 24/7 behavioral health urgent care is a good idea across the board. But it is an especially good idea where kids are concerned.
According to the CDC, “emergency departments (EDs) are often the first point of care for children’s mental health emergencies.” That is from a CDC report issued back in 2020.
According to that report, the total number of ED visits among children with mental health issues increased measurably as a result of the COVID pandemic. As a percentage of the total, children’s mental health visits increased to 31% in the 12-17 age group.
It is no surprise that overall instances of mental health emergencies increased commensurate with COVID restrictions and lockdowns. People of all ages already dealing with mental health issues saw their issues exacerbated by the pandemic’s effects.
Stress Levels Remain High
Stress levels remain high among both adults and children after the COVID-19 pandemic. Our lives have been inexorably changed by COVID, and many people still struggle with what the future holds. No doubt we will continue feeling the impact of COVID on mental health for years to come.
It could be that the scars left by COVID will remain forever. And if that is the case, we have even more reason to further develop behavioral health urgent care. Making urgent care for mental health crises a priority should ultimately lead to faster interventions, higher quality care and better outcomes.
Time to Get to Work
It is up to behavioral health management companies and mental health providers to work together to develop urgent care facilities. We already know the model works for physical health emergencies. There is no reason to believe it would be less effective in dealing with mental health emergencies.
It’s time to get to work creating an entire network of urgent care centers for behavioral health. Safe and effective behavioral health management demands it. Providing better care at the moment of crisis can only help patients in the long run.