Success Story

Reducing Emergency Department Visits

The objective was to reduce ED admission and readmission rates for individuals with behavioral health conditions.

The Story

Across the country, Emergency Departments are grappling with high admission rates for individuals with a behavioral health primary diagnosis. Barriers to care include lack of a primary care, medication management, and care team engagement along with multiple social factors including stable housing and transportation. For a NC managed care organization, claim data analysis, combined with feedback from key stakeholders, clearly demonstrated high utilization within a small member pool concentrated in specific zip codes.

Bright red side that says Emergency in white letters. There is a red brick building in the background.

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Hospital Administration and Clinical Staff

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Public Health Officials and Law Enforcement

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Mobile Crisis Teams and Behavioral Healthcare Providers

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Call Center Team

Black female on a headset and in front of a computer screen. The woman is touching the headset on her left ear.

The Approach

While the clinical operations team focused on improving 1:1 engagement, the marketing and outreach team adopted a broader approach designed to educate and shift behavior at the point of crisis. The team took a traditional consumer marketing approach that leverages SEO, SEM and geotargeting to drive product sales and adapted it to an awareness and action model aimed at right care, right time, right place. They started with the creation of an easy to remember, easy to dial alternative to 911 and tied the number into the managed care call center.

The team then combined digital and out of home tactics to build awareness and utilization within key zip codes in three pilot counties. A deep dive into consumer behavior revealed high utilization of convenience stores for groceries, so refrigerator window cling and bathroom signage were developed and deployed in tandem with traditional billboard coverage in high traffic locations. A long-term, geotargeted SEO and social media campaign underpinned robust outreach efforts across all stakeholder groups. Call center, mobile crisis, and behavioral health urgent care teams were educated on the effort and developed call scripts and staffing plans to effectively manage call volume and divert members in a behavioral health crisis to more appropriate care.

The Results

The team tracked call results weekly and broad campaign results monthly. At the end of the nine-month pilot, overall ED admissions and readmissions reduced 25%.

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