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Mental Health Encounters in Critical Access Hospital Emergency Rooms: A National Survey
This project will survey Emergency Room (ER) managers in a nationally representative sample of Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) to determine the proportion of ER encounters involving mental health pathology, types of mental health problems most commonly seen in these encounters, and resources available to CAHs to address the problems encountered. Project staff will also investigate whether the presence of the other two safety net provider types in the community (primary care and mental health), the rurality of the community (as indicated by RUCA classification), or the presence of another hospital in the county affect the volume or types of mental health problems encountered.
Publications
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Mental Health Encounters in Critical Access Hospital Emergency Rooms: A National Survey
Author(s): David Hartley, Erika Ziller, Stephenie Loux, John Gale, David Lambert, Anush Yousefian
Report Number: Working Paper No. 32
Date: 09 / 2005
Investigates the extent and types of cases that present with mental health problems in Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) emergency rooms (ERs), as well as the resources available to ER staff for addressing such problems and what actually happens to such patients. Emergency department managers in a random sample of 422 CAHs in 44 states completed a telephone survey (response rate = 84.7%) responding to questions about prevalence of mental health problems in their ER and what options they had for responding to such problems. On average, CAHs had 99 emergency room visits per week. Of these visits, 9.4% were mental health related. CAH ERs play a significant role in providing mental health services to rural residents. Although nearly 20% of mental health encounters result in transfers to other facilities, over 40% of mental health problems are addressed on-site through treatment or referrals. Nearly half (43%) of CAH ER managers reported having no access to local mental health providers of any kind.
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Smallest Rural Hospitals Treat Mental Health Emergencies
Author(s): David Hartley, Stephenie Loux
Report Number: Research and Policy Brief
Date: 2006
Discusses the extent to which rural emergency rooms encounter and treat mental health patients.
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Use of Critical Access Hospital Emergency Rooms by Patients With Mental Health Symptoms
Author(s): David Hartley, Erika C. Ziller, Stephenie L. Loux, John A. Gale, David Lambert, Anush E. Yousefian
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 23(2), 108-115
Date: 2007
Describes the results of a study investigating the use of critical access hospital (CAH) emergency rooms by patients with mental health problems to understand the role these facilities play in rural mental health needs and the challenges they face.
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