Telemedicine Helps SSM Health triple Volume of Psychiatric Care

The demand for behavioral health services is overwhelming across the country, but it's particularly acute in Missouri, where approximately only 200 of the state's 1,000 licensed psychiatrists actually reside in the state to serve a population of about 6 million.This shortage began to intensify even before the COVID-19 pandemic, and the demand hasn't let up since. Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital experienced the impact firsthand – its emergency departments were becoming inundated with behavioral health patients, who at times were being held for weeks in the ED without proper beds, awaiting psychiatric evaluation and/or placement.What makes this crisis particularly challenging is its pervasiveness.