Horizon Health Expands Behavioral Health Solutions
EmPATH Crisis Units to Help Stabilize Psychiatric Patients
At Horizon Health, our mission has always been clear: Deliver innovative, patient-centered behavioral health services to empower hospital systems and improve the lives of people in our communities.
We’re expanding our services to include EmPATH Units (Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment and Healing) which play a key role in our behavioral health portfolio. They’re dedicated crisis stabilization units designed to support behavioral health patients who are experiencing a mental health emergency.
Hospital ER is not equipped for psychiatric crises
Hospitals can no longer afford to treat behavioral health care as an afterthought. Behavioral health emergencies are rising across the country and hospital emergency departments (EDs) are at the front lines of managing acute psychiatric episodes.
Unfortunately, traditional ED settings cannot provide the specialized, therapeutic care most mental health patients need. In their most vulnerable moments, patients in crisis have to deal with long ER hospital wait times and limited access to mental health support.
Trying to treat psychiatric patients in a stressful hospital ER usually results in poor patient experiences, decreased bed turnover, and strained hospital resources. The financial impact of boarding behavioral health patients can lead to loss of revenue and increased expenses for the hospital.
What’s an EmPATH Unit?
An EmPATH Unit is a specially designed behavioral health crisis stabilization area that integrates (and operates) within or adjacent to a hospital’s emergency department. Unlike a typical ER, which can be overstimulating and unequipped for behavioral health patients, an EmPATH Unit offers a calming, open-space environment. Units are staffed by psychiatric doctors and providers who are trained in rapid assessment and behavioral de-escalation.
Patients in an EmPATH Unit receive immediate access to evaluation, medication management and therapeutic support. EmPATH units are uniquely designed to meet the needs of mental health patients. They offer:
- Rapid access to assessment and stabilization
- Patient-focused comfort and transparency
- Multidisciplinary staff including doctors, psychiatric nurses and social workers
- Typically, a patient’s stay in an EmPATH unit is less than 24 hours, reducing needless inpatient admissions
The national mental health crisis is a reality that hospitals and health systems cannot ignore. Nearly one in five U.S. adults live with some form of mental illness, according to the National Institutes of Health. The number of patients in psychiatric crises has increased in recent years. Yet, the emergency care model has not evolved to meet their unique needs.
According to the American College of Emergency Physicians, psychiatric patients often wait three times longer than medical patients in an ED. This not only delays treatment but contributes to hospital overcrowding, security concerns and staff burnout.
EmPATH Units bridge the gap by creating a specialized pathway of care. The setting diverts psychiatric patients from the general ED to a more soothing environment designed for their mental health needs.
Hospitals that adopt the crisis unit model:
- Reduce boarding times for mental health patients
- Improve operational efficiency in ED
- Enhance patient and staff satisfaction
- Lower rates of restraint and seclusion
- Reduce unnecessary inpatient admissions
EmPATH crisis stabilization units
Built on 40+ years of quality and experience, Horizon Health develops, manages and upgrades behavioral health services in diverse hospital settings. Our approach includes:
- Strategic analysis: Evaluate the needs of your hospital and community, aligning the EmPATH model with your existing emergency services infrastructure.
- Custom construction: Assist with space planning, unit design and environmental considerations to ensure a therapeutic environment.
- Staffing and training: We recruit and manage a multidisciplinary behavioral health team that meets your clinical and compliance standards.
- Operations and compliance: Horizon Health assumes responsibility for day-to-day operations, quality assurance and licensure requirements.
- Data-driven reporting: The proprietary data platform tracks patient outcomes, satisfaction and return on investment.
Whether it’s integrated within your emergency department, or built as a freestanding unit, the EmPATH model is tailored to meet the needs of your hospital system and prepare for the future with behavioral health solutions.
Partner with Horizon Health to bring an EmPATH Unit to your hospital. Together, we can transform the way your emergency department responds to mental health problems in your community – more efficiently and compassionately.
Schedule an appointment
Call 800-727-2407 or complete the online interest form to learn more about Horizon Health’s behavioral health solutions for crisis services and specialty programs. Visit Horizonhealth.com or contact the team at [email protected].
