Texas Collaborative Uses Innovation to Provide Better Care for Mental Health Patients

According to a recent article in the Longview, Texas based Longview News Journal, "At least 17 times in a three-month period starting in May, Longview police officers transported a person experiencing a mental health episode to a hospital ER." This practice costs patients a lot of money, and costs first responders significant time since they often end up waiting in the ER while the patient is seen by a physician and then referred to a mental health clinic -- in Texas, patients must get clearance from a physician via face-to-face interaction, before they can enter a mental health crisis center. 

To help ease these time and resource burdens placed on emergency and law enforcement services in the area, a group of "at least 16 governmental, health, and social agencies" have teamed up to form the Gregg County Collaborative Wellness Center.

The center will be staffed with mental health professionals, will be open 24 hours per day, and will provide first responders with an alternative destination to take patients experiencing a mental health crisis other than the busy emergency departments at the local hospitals in Longview.

As the industry pursues value based healthcare, our systems of care will need to decentralize away from brick and mortar acute care facilities. That's why Pulsara is excited to see yet another use case for a Regional Communication Network.