Join the IBHI Briefing Calls: January 2009

Solving the Emergency Department Log Jam for Behavioral Health Consumers

January 20, 2009
3:00 p.m. Eastern, 2:00 p.m. Central, 1:00 p.m. Mountain, Noon Pacific

January 27, 2009
11:00 a.m. Eastern, 10:00 a.m. Central, 9:00 a.m. Mountain, 8:00 a.m. Pacific

Hospital emergency departments frequently have difficulty serving people with behavioral health problems. Our systems can be un-prepared for this challenge. The result is exasperated staff, confused patients, and often poor and costly results. Emergency Department systems are readily improved by specific known changes in operations which can be adopted by essentially any hospital. The gap between what is known and what is practiced is significant, and contributes to poor quality, waste and sub-optimal outcomes.

On January 20 and January 27, 2009, The Institute for Behavioral Healthcare Improvement (IBHI) will host briefing calls to share results of the first successful learning collaborative on Improving Care for Behavioral Health Clients in Emergency Departments. The calls are free and will include a presentation by noted experts on current initiatives to accelerate and spread improvement in ED care. The format will be interactive and provide time for questions and answers.

Learning from the first collaborative will inform the conversation by faculty and participants. A “Change Package” of good ideas to improve care will be described. It will include an overview of ideas adaptable both to improving internal efficiencies and beginning to build more effective stakeholder partnerships. The briefing call will provide perspectives on the planned Collaborative as well as content specific information. The first learning session for this Collaborative will be April 20-22, 2009 in New Orleans.

Listen to and speak with:
Co-Chairs for the Collaborative:
Tammy L. Powell, FACHE Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, St. Anthony Hospital, Oklahoma City, OK
Stuart Buttlaire, PhD, MBA Regional Director Inpatient Psychiatry & Continuing Care Kaiser Northern California

Senior Faculty Member:
Jon S. Berlin, MD, Medical Director Crisis Services, Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division, Milwaukee, WI, former president American Association for Emergency Psychiatry

and others.

The call is free but reservations are required. You only need to participate in one of the briefing calls.

Click here to register for the January 20, 2009 Briefing Call.

Click here to register for the January 27, 2009 Briefing Call.

To learn more about the IBHI Collaborative on Improving Care for Behavioral Health Clients in Emergency Departments, click here.

IBHI’s efforts were recently endorsed by Michael Hogan Ph.D. Commissioner of the New York State Office of Mental Health. Dr. Hogan was co-chair of the President’s New Freedom Commission and was a reviewer for the IOM Study on Crossing the Quality Chasm for Behavioral Health Care. (To see the letter from Commissioner Hogan, click here.