Acute Psychiatry Solutions Expert care when patients need it most We believe psychiatric emergencies are medical emergencies. We also believe the best psychiatric care is delivered when patients are treated in a less-stressful, less-restrictive setting. Vituity is transforming the delivery of acute psychiatry to ensure appropriate, timely, and compassionate care. Avoid unnecessary hospital admissions, reduce care delays, and minimize ED boarding with proven, cost-effective methods that raise the standard of care and optimize resources.
Meet Our Leaders Experts in the delivery of acute psychiatric services. Scott Zeller, MD Vice President, Acute Psychiatry Dr. Zeller is an internationally recognized expert in psychiatric emergency care. He has authored multiple textbooks, published numerous journal articles, and he lectures internationally as a keynote speaker. In his 29 years of practice, he has personally cared for over 80,000 patients. Dr. Zeller led development of both the U.S. and International Guidelines on Evaluation of Treatment of Agitation. He has also pioneered innovative delivery models for emergency mental healthcare and helped to implement them at hospitals around the world. These achievements earned him the National Council on Behavioral Health s 2015 USA Doctor of the Year award. Dr. Zeller is a past president of the American Association for Emergency Psychiatry. Before joining Vituity, he served as Chief of Psychiatric Emergency Services at the Alameda Health System in Oakland, Calif. He is currently an assistant clinical professor at both the University of California-Riverside and Touro University medical schools. Herbert Harman, MD Medical Director of Operations, Acute Psychiatry Dr. Harman has more than a decade of experience practicing psychiatry in inpatient, outpatient, and emergency care settings. Before joining Vituity, he served as a U.S. Air Force psychiatrist and was deployed to Afghanistan as a Combat Operational Stress Control Officer. After returning to civilian life, he worked in several psychiatric emergency departments and later served as a medical director of outpatient psychiatry and brain stimulation services. His approach is to quickly speed patients to settings that promote recovery while ensuring safety. Dr. Harman is passionate about using technology to transform patient care. In 2010, he assisted in the development of an innovative telepsychiatry program on the East Coast. He joined Vituity as Associate Director of Telepsychiatry in 2016.
Vituity s Acute Psychiatry practice is led by board-certified psychiatrists with experience and passion for acute and emergency psychiatry. We provide customized care solutions with on-demand telepsychiatry, development and leadership support for psychiatric emergency units, and inpatient staffing through our Psychiatric Hospitalist model. It is through these innovative services and our partnership with hospitals and health systems that we are transforming the delivery of acute psychiatric care. Our standard of care is for patients to receive timely, high-quality services in the right care setting, with dignity and respect. Addressing the crisis Hospitals and health systems across the country are facing significant challenges in providing adequate and appropriate acute psychiatric services. Approximately 1 in 8 visits to the ED involve mental-health and substanceabuse problems. 3x longer wait for a psychiatric bed than a medical bed, preventing 2.2 ED bed turnovers Care delays in the ED can cause symptoms to escalate as patients experience an average of 8 to 34 hours of ED boarding Average daily cost to board a psychiatric patient in the ED: $2,264
Transforming psychiatric care, improving lives At the heart of better psychiatric care is a clinically proven and purposeful way to treat hospitals most challenging patient population. We provide a variety of patient-centric delivery models to meet your hospital s needs, including: Telepsychiatry EmPath Units Inpatient Psychiatry We offer 24/7, on-demand access to a board-certified psychiatrist via two-way video for evaluation, risk assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and disposition recommendations, boosting ED throughput while elevating patient care. Our innovative 23-hour units provide immediate access to a psychiatrist for evaluation and treatment in a calm, comfortable setting to manage psychiatric crises outside of the ED and prevent unnecessary admissions. Our Psychiatric Hospitalist model ensures coordinated treatment planning and care through in-hospital psychiatrist presence 7 days a week, 100% dedicated to the admitted patient population. Customer highlight At a Vituity partner system, patients needing acute psychiatric care were often boarded in the ED. This led to low patient satisfaction and boarding costs of over $2,200 per patient. To meet this challenge, the system partnered with Vituity to open an EmPath (Emergency Psychiatric Assessment Treatment and Healing) unit. The EmPath unit provides short-term psychiatric treatment in a calm, therapeutic setting. On average, 70% percent of the EmPath patients avoid inpatient admission and are safely discharged to outpatient care in their community within 24 hours. Vituity s EmPath Unit allows patients to be cared for quickly and efficiently, freeing up inpatient psychiatric beds for those who desperately need hospitalization, as well as improving emergency department throughput. Vice President, Continuum Care
Built on a foundation of compassion and dignity, Vituity s Acute Psychiatry services deliver improved continuity of care, better clinical outcomes, and exceptional patient experiences. Patient-centric solution Improves ED throughput Fewer inpatient admissions Improves care by stabilizing patients quickly and treating them in the right setting, reducing incidents of restraint and seclusion More beds mean increased capacity for patients in need of emergent care in the ED Prevents unnecessary hospitalizations and dramatically lowers overall cost of care Reduces ED overcrowding Better discharge planning Supports reimbursement Relieves stress on ED physicians, nurses, and support staff, and positively impacts patient satisfaction and outcomes Multidisciplinary, team-based approach to discharge planning, ensuring a robust aftercare plan Reduces denials with improved documentation and optimizes CMS quality measures for Hospital-Based Inpatient Psychiatry Services Psychiatric care is best delivered at the right time in the right place, with integrated and coordinated care between psychiatrists and consulting providers. Our services provide increased accessibility to a psychiatrist for hospital-based provider teams, family members, case management teams, and community behavioral health resources.
About Vituity As a physician-led and -owned Partnership, Vituity places clinical expertise and patient outcomes at the center of our practice. For over 40 years, we ve been helping hospitals across the country reach their goals and deliver exceptional value to patients. Our acute focus and compassion are the driving forces that have positioned us at the heart of better care. Post-Acute Care Urgent Care Emergency Medicine Acute Psychiatry Acute Neurology Contact Our Team Telehealth Our Practices Hospital Medicine Transform psychiatric care delivery, improve efficiency and performance, and better the lives of patients. Contact us to explore the potential: solutions@vituity.com. Acute Care Surgery Anesthesiology Critical Care 2100 Powell St. Suite 920 Emeryville, CA 94608 vituity.com 2018 CEP America, LLC Vituity is a registered trademark of CEP America, LLC.