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By the Numbers: Mental Health Visits Are Increasing

By James J. Augustine, MD, FACEP | on March 18, 2020 | 0 Comment
By the Numbers
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Of 139 Million U.S. ED visits in 2017 4.8 Million visits had a primary diagnosis of mental disorder. (source)

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ACEP Now: Vol 39 – No 03 – March 2020

2.3 Million visits had a mental health provider see the patient in the ED. (source)

About 594,000 visits resulted in hospital admission to the mental health or detoxification unit. (source)

About 1,135,000 visits resulted in transfer to a hospital with psychiatric capability. (source)

Note: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention underestimates total ED visits. A more comprehensive estimation comes from the National Emergency Department Inventory (NEDI)-USA database, which is maintained by the Emergency Medicine Network at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and contains data on all U.S. emergency departments open since 2001. According to NEDI-USA, there were 5,417 emergency departments and 158,719,684 ED visits in 2017. (source)


Compiled by James Augustine, MD, FACEP, clinical professor of emergency medicine at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio; vice president of the Emergency Department Benchmarking Alliance; and chair of the National Clinical Governance Board for US Acute Care Solutions.

Topics: BoardingMental Health

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About the Author

James J. Augustine, MD, FACEP

James J. Augustine, MD, FACEP, is national director of prehospital strategy for US Acute Care Solutions in Canton, Ohio; clinical professor of emergency medicine at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio; and vice president of the Emergency Department Benchmarking Alliance.

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