19% Of Mental Health Bed Days In Minnesota Hospitals Are Potentially Avoidable

During the spring of 2016, about 19% of inpatient mental health bed days at 20 Minnesota hospitals were potentially avoidable. From March 15, 2016 to April 30, there were 32,520 mental health bed days at the hospitals. Of those, 6,052 days were for people with behavioral health disorders who could have been treated in a non-hospital setting. The most frequent cause of potentially avoidable mental health bed days was lack of capacity at state-funded psychiatric or addiction treatment facilities.

These findings were reported in “Potentially Avoidable Days, Mental Health Study” by researchers with the Minnesota Hospital . . .