In July of 2022, all U.S. citizens in mental health crisis will be able to dial 988, the new 3-digit number, to access a call center staffed by trained personnel who can support patients by phone as well as triage them to the appropriate level of care.
This will create an unprecedented increase in demand for behavioral health crisis services.
This fact sheet explains the implications for health systems and outlines 3 strategies for health systems to better manage the influx of patients with behavioral health needs and better enable access to needed care.
“Hospital emergency departments (EDs) should expect to see a significant increase in demand as the ‘care of only resort’ when community-based crisis programs are not available or patients have significant co-morbid medical conditions.”
