Citation

Burt H, Doan Q, Landry T, Wright B, McKinley KW. Acad. Pediatr. 2021; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Academic Pediatric Association, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.acap.2021.09.021

PMID

34757025

Abstract

OBJECTIVE & HYPOTHESIS: Assess the impact of universal mental health screening with MyHEARTSMAP on emergency department (ED) flow, an important aspect of feasibility. We hypothesized that the difference in departmental level ED length of stay (LOS) for screening and matched non-screening days is less than 30 minutes.

METHODS: We conducted a two-center, retrospective cohort study between December 2017 and June 2019. At each center, random mental health screening days were assigned over the course of 15 consecutive months. We matched each 24-hour screening day to a unique non-screening day based on: location (Center 1 or Center 2); day type (weekday: Monday-Thursday or weekend: Friday-Sunday); date (+/- 28 days); and 24-hour volume (+/- 15 patients). We collected retrospective patient flow data, including LOS, across all ED visits to determine the difference in departmental level median LOS between matched screening and non-screening days.

RESULTS: There was not a statistically significant difference in departmental LOS between screening and non-screening days. Overall, the difference in departmental LOS was -4.0 minutes (95% CI: -9.8, 1.8) for screening days compared to non-screening days, with a difference of -2.0 minutes (-9.0, 4.9) at Center 1 and -6.0 minutes (-15.4, 3.4) at Center 2.

CONCLUSION: Our findings show that universal mental health screening with MyHEARTSMAP can be implemented without a significant impact of ED LOS.

Language: en

Keywords

Suicide; Emergency Department; Mental health; Length of stay; Screening