NQP Reduces Avoidable Behavioral Health-Related Emergency Department Visits Stemming From Creedmoor Psychiatric Center Campus Through Northwell Health, TSINY Partnership Program
NEW YORK, May 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Creedmoor Psychiatric Center campus is home to a large cohort of adults either living in mental health residential programs or receiving services in one of the treatment programs on the grounds. The highest volume of behavioral health-related 911 calls in New York City stem from the Creedmoor campus; many of which result in an emergency department visit at Long Island Jewish Medical Center (LIJ) or other emergency departments.
Within its initial six months, a behavioral health crisis de-escalation program at the campus has already led to a reduction in the amount of emergency department (ED) visits stemming from the location. The program launched on July 15, 2017 as a result of a partnership between Northwell Health (a principal partner of the Nassau Queens Performing Provider System (NQP)) and Transitional Services for New York (TSINY).
From July 2017 through January 2018, the program's Local Emergency Assistance and Diversion (LEAD) Team – a team made-up of two social workers, a peer counselor, and a program director – had a total of 211 encounters with campus patients, of which, 205 were successfully de-escalated without a subsequent ED visit. Since the Team is housed on-campus, it typically sees better call response times than EMS (Emergency Medical Services) or campus security.
"We noticed that a large quantity of behavioral health-related ED visits at Long Island Jewish Medical Center come from the location," says Megan Grella, program manager, Northwell Health. "As an NQP principal partner and participant in the New York State Department of Health's DSRIP (Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment) program, it makes sense for us to implement a program in which patients could be treated on the Creedmoor campus, and only present to the emergency department in a true emergency."
The LEAD Team responds to crisis calls placed by patients and on-campus clinicians when individuals are experiencing serious emotional distress that would otherwise result in an ED visit. The Team triages the situation, provides skilled interventions targeted at de-escalating a crisis in place, and provides linkages or transportation to crisis endpoints other than the ED. Also, in the case of a Creedmoor campus patient presenting at the LIJ ED, ED clinicians alert LEAD Team members who then follow-up with the patient after hospital discharge in an effort to help them remain healthy and out of the hospital.
"The LEAD Team is a prime example of how active collaboration among diverse stakeholders results in program innovations with a true impact on the community," says Daniel Donoghue, chief operating officer, TSINY. "This project built upon the successful collaboration among the New York City Department of Health and Mental Health, New York State Office of Mental Health, Northwell Health, the New York City Police Department and Transitional Services. The LEAD Team plugged a key gap in the crisis response system in New York City, reducing the need to utilize the 911 system in response to mental health crisis, and allows the FDNY, NYPD, and local hospitals to allocate their resources elsewhere."
The LEAD Team is working with the NYPD and campus providers to help educate on placing a call to the LEAD Team instead of 911 in certain circumstances. The Team also receives calls through word-of-mouth among patients.
About NQP
The Nassau Queens Performing Provider System (NQP) is one of 25 Performing Provider Systems in New York State participating in the New York State Department of Health's Delivery System Reforming Incentive Payment (DSRIP) Program. NQP is led by NuHealth/Nassau University Medical Center, in alliance with Northwell Health's Long Island Jewish Medical Center and Catholic Health Services of Long Island, and consists of more than 8,400 partner organizations that have come together to better serve the health needs of the community through the DSRIP program. Our goal is to redesign the way health care is delivered to people with Medicaid in our community by closing critical gaps in the continuum of care and reducing avoidable hospital use by 25% by 2020.
Contact:
Tom Melillo
Communications Director, NQP
516-296-2177
[email protected]
SOURCE Nassau Queens Performing Provider System
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