The emergency department (ED) can be the “first, and sometimes only” interaction that people with substance use disorders (SUDs) have with the health care system. Integrating SUD care into EDs can connect these patients to crucial long-term care. Still, co-occurring conditions, stigma and polysubstance use are among the main barriers preventing efficient integration. The ED […]
Vituity
The emergency department is often the first point of care for patients experiencing a behavioral health crisis. However, a trip to the ED is expensive for patients and payers and often isn’t the most appropriate place for patients. New models of behavioral health urgent care have begun to emerge. These models don’t replace EDs but […]
Health systems are seeing a steep increase in patients coming to emergency departments (EDs) for psychiatric conditions. However, the ED is often not the best place for patients in a psychiatric crisis. One major ramification of this increase is many of these patients can face a long wait time, causing a significant bottleneck in the […]
The federal government now allows any appropriately registered prescribers to use buprenorphine to treat patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) after years of loosening restrictions on the drug. Several behavioral health insiders see the move as having clear benefits for the industry. However, the benefit of deregulating buprenorphine may underwhelm in the short-term and even […]