Nearly one in every five people, or 43.8 million American adults, has a diagnosable mental health condition. In Lancaster County, more than 30,000 adults have been diagnosed with a condition, about the same as those diagnosed with diabetes. The July 2018 opening of the Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital increased access to behavioral health services.
Tracey Lavallias, executive director, Behavioral Health Service Line, explained that even with the recent opening of the new hospital, Lancaster General Hospital still needs to be prepared to provide quality care to patients in need of behavioral health support.
“We knew that patients would still be admitted to LGH with behavioral health needs, even if that was not the primary reason they were receiving care,” Lavallias said.
The Behavioral Health team established a mobile Behavioral Intervention Team (BIT), comprised of psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, social workers, therapists and psychiatric nurses. Leveraging a mobile model enables the BIT to travel to units within LGH at any time of the day or night, helping clinicians address behavioral health concerns, such as anxiety, depression, suicide, substance abuse, and traditional behavioral health needs. Lavallias added that the team plans to expand beyond LGH to also include Women & Babies Hospital.
“Our primary job is to make sure patients are placed in a safe environment when receiving care in our facility,” shared Heather Hostetter, manager, Behavioral Health Acute Care Services. “Our work began as a collaboration with the Emergency Department and we have now extended our support throughout the hospital.” Hostetter continued that the team leveraged the Continuous Improvement process and an idea card to include the BIT services in Epic, LG Health’s electronic medical records system.
“Based on the staff ’s assessment of a behavioral health concern or a need, they can place an order for a BIT service through Epic,” she said. “BIT also works closely with the Critical Incident Response Team and the chaplains, providing behavioral health support during the most critical of cases.”
To further support the overall patient experience, the team is well-versed on insurance requirements, medication restrictions, and the referral process that may take place as a patient receives care.
In addition to quality patient care, the team focuses on providing resources, support and education for clinicians, so that all staff feel comfortable and confident assisting patients with behavioral health needs and engaging the BIT when necessary.
“During the first quarter, we’ve witnessed an increase in behavioral health service requests, which reaffirms that there is a great need for integrated services within our community,” Hostetter said. “The program is still relatively new, but we are excited about the opportunity to expand behavioral health services within the continuum of care, enabling LG Health to address this important patient need.”
For more information about the Behavioral Health Department, visit LGHealth.org/BehavioralHealth.