From Mary Mayhew, President/CEO of Florida Hospital Association:
Access to involuntary psychiatric beds is a critical component of Florida’s mental health continuum of care, providing essential services to help treat individuals who are experiencing mental illness. In recent years, there has been a decrease in the number of involuntary beds in Florida due to a reduction in the number of beds in state psychiatric facilities and recent reductions by private organizations. Individuals with mental illnesses continue to lack sufficient, effective, quality treatment in a healthcare system that is not on par with the growing demand.
Given the significant costs associated with maintaining involuntary beds, including higher patient-to-staff ratios, and the constant need for peer navigators, there is sufficient capacity in the state to meet the demand for safety requirements of patient rooms, the state should ensure that the needs are being met.
Based on concerns expressed by hospitals across the state regarding the lack of access to involuntary psychiatric beds, FHA surveyed to capture the statewide capacity of involuntary beds and the performance of the system as it relates to occupancy and cost.
The survey included an analysis of over 82 facilities. The survey results allow us to reflect on this data, to share it in our discussions with state officials and legislators, and it will serve as a starting point for future statewide analysis.
Some of the high-level data points include:
A total of 77,734 involuntary admissions between Baker Act and Non-Baker Act receiving facilities amongst survey respondents, for a twelve-month period.
Available workforce and patient acuity have a direct relationship to the number of patients that can be served at any given time, which affects the occupancy rate and allocated psychiatric beds.
The average per-discharge cost for Baker Act Receiving Facilities is $7,741 and $6,808 for Non-Baker Act Receiving Facilities.
Medicaid reimbursement rates for these services are less than half of the actual cost of care.
For a more detailed analysis of the results, please see here. The data will be used to inform lawmakers and key stakeholders about the importance of increasing the current reimbursement rate to reflect the total costs of maintaining and supporting involuntary psychiatric beds for individuals with psychological illnesses. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Thank you for your participation in this important survey.