ArticleAcademic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine2022
Emergency psychiatric assessment, treatment, and healing (EmPATH) unit decreases hospital admission for patients presenting with suicidal ideation in rural America.
Article in Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Systematic Review of Built Environment Interventions to Improve Patient and Staff Outcomes in Emergency Department Mental and Behavioral Healthcare.Administration and policy in mental health · 2026Pooled it
- Nurses' Experiences Caring for People Presenting to the Emergency Department With Mental Health Concerns.Journal of clinical nursing · 2026Article
- Association between utilisation of pre-hospital emergency services and premature discharge in Emergency Department attendances with mental health triage codes: a retrospective cohort study.BMC emergency medicine · 2026Article
- State of the Art: Observation Units in the Emergency Department, an Interim Practice Update and Policy Review.Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians open · 2026Article
- Effects of Psychiatric Inpatient or Residential Care on Service Use After Psychiatric Emergency Department Boarding.Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.) · 2026Article
- A 3-year experience of an Australian short-stay Psychiatric, Alcohol and Non-prescription Drug Assessment Unit: unit activity and the patient experience.Emergency medicine journal : EMJ · 2025Article
- Community-based Suicide Interventions in Rural United States: A Scoping Review.Community mental health journal · 2025Article
- Psychiatric emergencies: epidemiological analysis and healthcare professionals' experiences.BMC emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Using patient journey mapping and provider workflows to understand process barriers to pediatric mental and behavioral health care in emergency departments.Applied ergonomics · 2025Article
- Adapting the Zero Suicide framework to the adult emergency department setting: Strategies for nurse leaders.Archives of psychiatric nursing · 2024Article
- Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Patient Restraint in Emergency Departments by Police Transport Status.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- Improving emergency department care for adults presenting with mental illness: a systematic review of strategies and their impact on outcomes, experience, and performance.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Review
- Trends in Acute Care Use for Mental Health Conditions Among Youth During the COVID-19 Pandemic.JAMA psychiatry · 2023Article
- Community-Based Crisis Services, Specialized Crisis Facilities, and Partnerships With Law Enforcement.Focus (American Psychiatric Publishing) · 2023Review
- Emergency Psychiatry: Updates, Future Directions, and Core Concepts.Focus (American Psychiatric Publishing) · 2023Article
- A Qualitative Assessment of Barriers and Proposed Interventions to Improve Acute Agitation Management for Children With Mental and Behavioral Health Conditions in the Emergency Department.Journal of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison PsychiatryArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesThe objective was to evaluate the impact of an emergency psychiatric assessment, treatment, and healing (EmPATH) unit in the emergency department (ED) on hospital admissions, ED length of stay, and 30-day follow-up for patients presenting with suicidal ideation or attempt.
methodsThis study was a before-and-after analysis of introducing the EmPATH unit within a Midwestern academic medical center on outcomes of adult patients (≥18 years) presenting with suicidal ideation or suicidal attempt. The primary outcome in this study was the change in proportion of inpatient psychiatric admission of suicidal patients presenting to the ED before and after implementation of the EmPATH unit. Secondary outcomes compared were changes in proportion of any admission, incomplete admission defined as discharge from the ED after admission request placed, outpatient follow-up, return ED visits within 30 days of admission, and ED boarding time. Association between the EmPATH unit implementation and categorical outcomes were determined using log-binomial regression to estimate relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Continuous outcomes were log-transformed and generalized estimating equations were used to examine as the mean difference by time period.
resultsThere were 962 patients presenting with suicidal ideation (n = 435 before EmPATH unit, n = 527 after EmPATH unit). Compared to the pre-EmPATH-unit period, there was a reduction in psychiatric admission (RR = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.40 to 0.56), any admission (RR = 0.65, 95% CI = 0.58 to 0.73), incomplete admission (RR = 0.22, 95% CI = 0.11 to 0.43), and 30-day return to the ED (RR = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.56 to 0.98). ED boarding time among admitted patients was reduced by approximately two-thirds both in admitted patients (RR = 0.34, 95% CI = 0.30 to 0.39) and among those with incomplete admissions (RR = 0.37, 95% CI = 0.23 to 0.61). There was a 60% increase in a 30-day follow-up care established at the time of discharge (RR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.40 to 1.82).
conclusionsThe introduction of the EmPATH unit has improved management of patients presenting to the ED with suicidal attempts/ideation by reducing ED boarding and unnecessary admissions and establishing post-ED follow-up care.
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