Health Partners New England, Inc. (HPNE) and HealthMetrics have joined forces to improve the delivery of care to behavioral health patients in emergency departments (ED). This project improves care by reducing waiting times and delays. This is a pioneering initiative to equip ED managers and clinicians with the information required to provide optimal care to behavioral health patients.

By tracking and documenting the wide variation in processes used to care for behavioral health patients in emergency rooms and linking them to quality and cost outcomes, the best process for providing care is identified for each client. ED managers and clinicians gain specific data on which of their processes are working well and specific recommendations for improvements, as appropriate, for those processes that are not optimal. Typically time in the ED is reduced by over 30% by adapting HealthMetrics recommendations.

 Health Partners New England CEO Michael Krupa stated “I see great variation in emergency room methods, staffing, costs, and wait times for patients with psychiatric and substance abuse conditions seeking care.  Information from this project will enable ED Directors to reduce the amount of time behavioral health patients spend in the ED while improving both patient and staff satisfaction. The results of this project will improve quality by moving patients more quickly to the most appropriate setting to provide treatment while simultaneously reducing the cost of care.”