Behavioral Health Clinical Learning Collaborative
The Behavioral Health Clinical Learning Collaborative (Collaborative) is a grant funded program supported by the Endowment for Health and New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. The Collaborative is a demonstration of an essential, statewide initiative that engages clinicians and staff from hospital emergency departments (EDs), community mental health centers (CMHCs) and other interested stakeholders. The trusted, cohesive forum addresses clinical aspects of the behavioral health boarding crisis in New Hampshire emergency departments (ED).
The aim of the Collaborative is to better treat and serve patients in a behavioral health crisis, and their families, while they wait in the ED setting for the most appropriate level of care. The members meet monthly in an online setting, focusing on clinical learning and evidence-based treatments as well as connecting with appropriate resources in the health system and community.
For more information on the Behavioral Health Clinical Learning Collaborative, contact Nancy Fennell, Director, at [email protected] or 603-415-4276
Program Goals
- Start treatment in the emergency department
- Examine Mobile Crisis/Crisis Care Alternatives to redirect patients from the ED when possible
- Strengthen partnerships between hospitals and community mental health centers to better serve patients who frequent the ED
- Evaluate and share best practices for mental health assessments and interventions in ED crisis situations
- Provide education and share programming on stigma reduction (providers, staff, community partners)
Collaborative Objectives
- Bolster support for our mental health patients in Emergency Department boarding situations
- Seek out and develop best clinical and crisis management practices / frameworks
- Identify opportunities to strengthen the local relationships between Community Mental Health Centers and hospitals
- Reduce injury to patients and staff
- Standardize medication management and treatment
- Develop process and outcome metrics to monitor performance improvement
- Create sustainable consistent models of care across the state
If you, or someone you care about, is experiencing a mental health or a substance use crisis, please call the NH Rapid Response Access Point at 1-833-710-6477 for a NH response. Visit New Hampshire Rapid Response Access Point (nh988.com) for more information.
