56% Of New Jersey Emergency Department ‘High Utilizers’ Had Behavioral Health Disorders

About 56% of people considered "high utilizers" of emergency department (ED) services in New Jersey had behavioral health disorders, and 13.9% had severe mental illness (SMI). High ED utilizers are people who made six or more ED visits from 2008 through 2011.  Among ED users who made five or fewer visits during the same period, 18.1% had behavioral health disorders; about 2.1% had SMI. Among Medicaid beneficiaries with high ED utilization, 57.0% had diagnosed behavioral health conditions compared to 19.2% of those with fewer visits. About 18.0% of high ED utilizers had SMI, compared . . .