Emergency Rooms are being overrun with mental health patients. Wait what? Yes, you read that correctly.
According to the CDC, there are 5.9 million emergency department visits with mental disorder as the primary diagnosis. That number doesn’t account for people who present to the ER for other problems but happen to have an underlying mental illness.
Here’s the thing…
EDs weren’t created to handle mental health crises. There are fewer outpatient resources available for mental health than ever, with some patients waiting over two months for an appointment. Once those options are exhausted, the ER becomes the only remaining hope for many patients.
But when you’re not equipped to handle the load, something has to give. Enter virtual mental health evaluation.
In this article, you’ll learn:
- Why ER’s are being flooded with Mental Health Patients
- Why There’s a Serious Psychiatrist Shortage
- What Is a Virtual Mental Health Evaluation Anyway?
- 4 Reasons Virtual Mental Health Evals Are Revolutionizing ER Care
- Exactly What GREAT ER Mental Health Support Looks Like
Why Emergency Rooms Are Being Flooded With Mental Health Patients
It’s no secret that mental health crises are popping up in ED’s more frequently than ever.
One study out of Annals of Emergency Medicine showed that there were over 4 million ED visits related to mental illness out of 62 million total visits across 12 US jurisdictions from 2022–2024. That includes patients presenting with anxiety, depression, trauma disorders, suicidal ideation, etc.
The increase isn’t isolated to a single area or shift time either. Mental health disorders are showing up at the triage desk all day, every day.
“The reality is ER docs are trained to handle heart attacks, car accident injuries, and broken bones. Mental health is not their specialty. When a patient comes in with a mental health crisis, that ER doctor must wait for a psychiatric consult,” says Bridgette Garcia M.D. Medical Director at FA語S Psych.
And regardless if that patient needs to be admitted or released, the clock is ticking.
Physicians are doing their best with limited resources, but that isn’t good enough for patients who need help immediately.
That is the problem with boarding mental health patients in the ER. There are only so many beds, doctors, and staff to go around. When two patients need help but only one solution is available, someone doesn’t get cared for like they should.
And that someone just so happens to be your most mentally vulnerable patients.
Wait, we don’t have enough Psychiatrists?
Yep. Not only is the ER struggling to cope with the influx of mental health patients, but there just aren’t enough psychiatrists to go around.
The median wait time for a first psychiatric appointment is 67 days in-person and 43 days for telepsychiatry patients. With visits for anxiety alone accounting for 2,338 out of every 100,000 ED visits (CDC) that medicine is available isn’t cutting it. Someone sitting in the ER needing immediate help is going to wait… somewhere.
Hospitals are catching on, and many are turning to hospital telepsychiatry solutions to fill the void. Using hospital telepsychiatry, patients can receive a virtual mental health evaluation without leaving their bed. A virtual psychiatrist will meet with the patient via video to assess their needs and help the ER find the best course of action.
It’s fast. It’s effective. And patients love it.
The problem is only going to get worse as baby boomer psychiatrists retire, newly authorized residency slots stay vacant, and demand for mental healthcare continues to grow. Emergency departments are stuck in the middle.
What Exactly Is a Virtual Mental Health Evaluation?
Telepsychiatry, or virtual mental health evaluation, is the practice of delivering psychiatric services remotely via video.
Here’s how it works in the ER:
Patients come into the ER and are evaluated by the triage nurse. Upon identifying a behavioral health need, the ED will contact their virtual psychiatry provider who will assign a board-certified psychiatrist to the case.
That psychiatrist will connect with the patient via video from the comfort of their bed and perform a full clinical evaluation. After the virtual visit is over, the remote psychiatrist will provide a diagnosis (if appropriate), risk assessment, and recommendations on where the patient should be discharged to.
And that’s it. Patients can leave the ER with proper mental health follow up or be transferred to an inpatient psychiatric bed if needed. All without ever having to leave their hospital bed.
Sound too good to be true?
It isn’t.
Virtual health evaluations allow hospitals to flex their mental health capacity and get patients the right care right when they need it.
4 Reasons Virtual Mental Health Evaluations Are Changing Emergency Rooms
Between 2006 and 2014 mental health-related visits to emergency departments grew by 40%. That growth hasn’t slowed down. In fact, we’re likely to see that number continue to rise as the gap between patients and psychiatric resources widens.
EDs are notorious for not having a psychiatrist on staff. When a patient does show up in crisis, doctors are left playing sysadmin until a proper solution presents itself. Not only are patients boarding (sometimes for days) but staff is getting burnt out trying to manage patients who need specialized care.
Virtual mental health evaluations are changing that.
Virtual mental health evaluations allow hospitals to:
- Scale their psychiatric capabilities instantly
- Ensure patients are being directed to the appropriate level of care
- Reduce boarding times
- Have 24/7 specialty care available
Studies support this too. When hospitals implemented telepsychiatry programs, they saw more patients admitted to proper psychiatric beds and fewer patients occupying medical surgical space.
Patients get better care, faster.
Virtual Mental Health Evaluations: What You Need to Know
Just like hospitals, not every virtual mental health evaluation program is created equal.
Programs that provide exceptional care will have psychiatrists available 24/7 with quick response times. You want your virtual psychiatrist to feel like an extension of your care team versus some random doctor logging into a patient’s chart and running off.
When looking for a virtual health partner, keep these questions in mind:
- How quickly do they respond? Response times should be calculated in minutes, not hours.
- Do they just evaluate patients or do they help with disposition planning?
- Is their technology secure and easy to use?
- Can they evaluate both adults and children?
- Are they only available during typical business hours?
If you can answer yes to these questions, then you’re on your way to unlocking the full potential of virtual mental health evaluations. Want to see what that looks like for your hospital?
Patients Need Mental Health Support… Now
Mental health related visits to the ER are only going to grow. There aren’t enough psychiatrists to go around and patients can’t be expected to wait months for an appointment.
Virtual mental health evaluations are the best way for hospitals to extend their reach and get patients the care they need right now.
Far too often hospitals have tried to go at it alone, only to find themselves burnt out and broken. The right virtual mental health evaluation partner makes all the difference.
