Emergency rooms around the country are overflowing. In some areas, the situation is dire. Communities around the country are reeling for answers; one solution is co-responder programs. Below, you’ll learn how co-responder programs reduce emergency room visits and how they can be formed to meet the needs of your area.
Co-responder programs reduce emergency room visits by responding to behavioral health emergencies with trained behavioral health professionals. This specific response allows the patient to be assessed, treated on scene, and transported to a non-emergency room clinic if their condition warrants. Also, co-responder programs can offer social help, substance recovery, and more.
How Do Co-Responder Programs Reduce Visits to the Emergency Room?
In the USA, the population is shifting. Some areas are aging, others are shrinking, and some are losing hospitals because health systems believe they can be more profitable in other areas.
Combine this with the fact that many areas are struggling with substance abuse, unchecked chronic disease, and frequent psychiatric crises, and you get ERs that are overcrowded, underfunded, and understaffed.
There is no quick fix. There is no “as seen on TV” product to correct this issue overnight. However, if there were, mobile integrated health and co-responder programs would certainly be part of that conversation. Many areas have seen a decline in ER crowding after implementing a co-responder program, and we will talk about how they make this happen.
Here are the ways co-responder programs drop the number of ER visits:
- Reduce ER Visits by Redirecting Patients
- Co-Responder Programs Reduce ER Visits by Providing Care in the Field
- Reduce ER Visits by Helping Correct Chronic Behavioral Issues
- Co-Responder Programs Reduce ER Visits by Helping People with Social Needs (Housing and Hunger)
- Co-Responder Programs Reduce ER Visits by Assisting People with Substance Abuse Rehabilitation
Hopefully, this list provides a rough roadmap of what we’ll cover. Let the journey begin.
Co-Responder Programs Reduce ER Visits by Redirecting Behavioral Patients to Definitive Care
Let me give you an example of a common scenario. You have a family. They have an adult son who has developmental disabilities. One day, the adult son (we’ll call him Jim) has a crisis and begins acting threatening to his family.
911 is called, and Jim is taken to the ER. The ER runs some blood work, performs a physical exam, and suggests that the family follow up with a specialist to adjust Jim’s medication, perhaps. Jim is discharged, and a week later, another incident occurs.
What’s the issue here? Jim needs help, but he’s not getting it. Not only is he not getting help, but the ER is getting flooded with people (which is one of the reasons Jim isn’t getting the attention he deserves).
A co-responder team would do one key thing differently: instead of just dropping Jim off at the ER, they would try to redirect him to definitive care early. In this way, the process of adjusting medications or changing medications and trying a different kind of therapy isn’t a passive one. It’s an active one.
Also, this initiation process is put in the hands of the co-responder team and not left to the family, who may already be overburdened. We’ve used an example of a psychiatric/developmental issue, but this could just as easily be a diabetic problem or a substance abuse issue.
Now, let’s talk about definitive care in the field.
Co-Responder Programs Reduce ER Visits by Providing Care in the Field
In some cases, co-responder programs can provide patients with care in the field without transporting them to the ER. Many co-responder teams can contact a physician directly and discuss their situation, deciding whether a patient needs to be transported to the ER.
What could the co-responder team do in the field? Well, it depends on the members of the team and their training, but they can certainly start by assessing if the patient needs to be seen in the ER. If the patient has no apparent life threats, they may not need transport.
In this case, the co-responder team would work to de-escalate the situation (if it was a behavioral problem) and provide follow-up if needed. They may have a mental health professional on the scene who can connect the person with helpful resources.
Also, if the patient needs an in-depth physical screen, such as a blood draw or a physician assessment, this can all be done remotely. Often, a trained community paramedic can draw blood and send it to the lab for evaluation, and a physician can be reached via video chat for a more in-depth assessment.
For mental health calls, a trained therapist may be available for direct contact, and the co-responder team may be able to transport the patient to a definitive care center if needed.
As you can see, none of these options require the patient to pass through the ER.
Co-Responder Programs Reduce ER Visits by Helping Chronic Behavior Issues
Some people may have chronic psychiatric or behavioral issues. While these people may need to go to the ER occasionally, the ER should not be viewed by responders as the primary place of treatment. Instead, co-responders should try to offer some definitive treatment for chronic behavioral issues. How?
The same way they would treat a long-term physical issue is by frequently assessing the person and looking for trends in their condition. Unfortunately, behavioral issues often don’t receive attention until a significant problem arises. Not only is this bad for the patient, but it’s also bad for the health system (including ERs), as it strains the system.
After you’ve read this guide, check out our article on essential safety for a co-responder team.
Reducing ER Visits by Helping People with Social Needs (Housing and Hunger)
Those who work on co-responder teams and in the out-of-hospital setting, in general, know that for many people, their physical or mental struggles are only part of the problem. Other issues often come into play, such as paying bills, difficult family situations, lack of proper nutrition, and poor housing conditions.
Sadly, these compounding factors can make it very difficult for any treatment to work. Thankfully, co-responder programs understand this and are trying to help by building teams to include social workers.
When these social workers arrive on scene, they can connect people with resources that may give them a better foundation to receive long-term health.
Assisting People with Substance Abuse Rehabilitation
Another common factor that compounds behavioral health is substance abuse. Co-responder teams can help reduce overdoses and prevent the rapid influx of patients into the ER. How? They do this in several ways. First, they go to the patient in their home at the time of the overdose or shortly after and provide an assessment.
This assessment covers more than just the patient’s condition – it also looks at where they live and the people they live with. From here, co-responder teams can decide the next step in the patient’s care.
Unfortunately, when this process doesn’t take place, many people who struggle with overdose are on a constant treadmill that revolves around going to the ER, overdosing, and returning to the ER. While they must receive emergency care, if the cycle doesn’t stop, they could lose their lives.
Co-responder programs can connect these people to rehab professionals. These rehab professionals can do several things: they can come into the patient’s home regularly, or they can assist in entering the patient into a rehab program where they can safely overcome their addiction.
The ER is an excellent resource for patients who are in a critical condition, but it is not the place for people who need nuanced long-term care.
Conclusion: The Way Co-Responder Stop Overflow at the Emergency Department
The emergency department has become the corner of healthcare that deals with everything. Unfortunately, many people are underserved and cannot get long-term care. Co-responder programs understand that while the ER provides critical lifesaving services, it is not the place for all conditions at all times.
And that’s why co-responder programs have taken steps to prevent ER overuse. They do this by responding to patients’ homes and then resisting the urge to drop them off at the ER and call it a day. Instead, co-responders will assess the patient, try to treat them on the scene if possible, attempt to transport them to a long-term care facility, and always offer follow-up care.
Using the methods mentioned in this article, co-responder programs have effectively reduced the number of ER visits in cities all over the country (and the world). If you’re curious about how your area can implement a program like this, reach out to your local leaders and get the process started. You don’t have to be perfect immediately–you just have to start.
Contact Julota to learn how their software solutions can help connect your co-responder team and effectively reduce ER overflow.