Psychiatric Tele-Triage Innovative Collective Approach in Emergency

Emergency departments are struggling with a nationwide crisis, with overcrowding and prolonged wait times becoming commonplace and presenting significant challenges to healthcare facilities nationwide. It's necessary that Imperial Locum seek out innovative strategies to tackle these challenges and enhance patient outcomes. One promising approach is incorporating psychiatric providers through tele-triage, not only streamlining processes but also potentially lowering operational expenses and enhancing outcomes for individuals in need of urgent medical care.

Psychiatric Tele-Triage Approach

To address this nationwide challenge with innovation, Imperial Locum encourages hospital leaders to explore the idea of having a psychiatrist available in the emergency room. This setup would allow for the diversion of patients with psychiatric needs away from the general queue and ensure that they receive specialized care without delay. This strategy, referred to as psychiatric "tele-triage," has the potential to revolutionize emergency departments, particularly in managing low-acuity cases that contribute to extended wait times.

Benefits of Tele-Triage

Tele-triage, which involves physicians remotely triaging cases through tele-presence, offers several important advantages:

• Reduced Travel Cost:

  An immediate advantage is the removal of the necessity for psychiatric physicians to be physically on-site in the emergency room. This not only reduces travel costs but also enables these funds to be reallocated to more vital areas within the healthcare system.

• Identifying Lower-Acuity Cases:

  Tele-triage proves effective in diagnosing and handling psychiatric cases of lower severity. It reduces treatment time, boosts patient contentment, and enhances clinical results.

Managing Patient Flow and Maximizing Revenue through Tele-Triage

Hospitals have a tough time because the emergency rooms are too crowded. Patients end up waiting in hallways or leaving without getting help, which is risky. Also hospitals have less money to work with, but they have to pay their staff more. Tele-triage is a smart and cheap way to manage patients better. It helps hospitals handle the flow of patients and use their resources wisely. This means patients get the care they need faster, and fewer people leave without getting seen by a doctor.

It's important to highlight that when psychiatric cases utilize resources in the emergency department (ED), it leads to missed revenue opportunities. According to the study, each psychiatric patient who stays in the ED prevents the treatment of 2.2 additional patients, resulting in a loss of $2400 in revenue per psychiatric patient. This has a substantial impact, illustrated by the annual cost of $20 million to Arizona hospitals.

Strategies for Hospital Billing in Tele-Psychiatry

In order to facilitate the integration of tele-triage, it's essential to grasp the applicable medical billing codes for tele-psychiatry services. Also ensure that precise billing for telehealth services and locum tenens providers is crucial to avoid delays and extra costs if claims are rejected. It's highly recommended to enlist the support of a knowledgeable partner proficient in billing, enrollment, and reimbursement processes.

Those responsible for precise billing should consider the two primary avenues for billing locum tenens providers: utilizing the Q6 modifier (a modifier for 60-day procedure codes in the absence of a physician) vs opting for full provider enrollment (where the Q6 modifier is not applicable).

There are also unique considerations when it comes to billing for telehealth services. While the process may seem complex and time-consuming, accurate billing can significantly impact the success of a telehealth program. It's essential to grasp concepts like distant site vs originating site and to clarify any guidelines provided by insurance payors regarding telehealth. Moreover, this process involves specific details such as indicating the location of telemedicine services using modifiers 95 and GT, ensuring the correct place of service codes, and selecting accurate CPT codes.

Expected Decrease in Waiting Time

The wait time for psychiatric patients in the ER is a big concern. A recent study found that people wait an average of 145 minutes. If we make sure all psychiatric cases go to the right place quickly, this wait time could drop a lot. Using tele-triage could help cut down on these wait times even more, which is good news for both patients and hospitals.

If your organization is ready to improve efficiency in your ED, lower operational expenses, and decrease patient wait times, leverage the strategic proficiency of the Locum Tenens team. Imperial Locum dedication to supplying skilled psychiatric professionals is unmatched, and we are prepared to assist in achieving your goal of delivering outstanding patient care. Furthermore, our specialists excel in developing incentive programs designed to assess your organizational requirements and offer tailored strategic advice aligned with the specific dynamics of your services and patient population.