What does it take to reduce avoidable emergency department (ED) utilization among youth with behavioral health conditions? According to a new analysis – Reducing Emergency Department Utilization for Pediatric Behavioral Health Crises Through High-Intensity Outpatient Behavioral Intervention – high-intensity outpatient behavioral intervention may provide an effective alternative to repeated emergency department utilization for children experiencing behavioral health crises.

The study found that children who completed the high-intensity outpatient intervention had significantly fewer ED visits in the following six months. Those families also reported a 63% reduction in challenging behaviors, a 61% reduction in functional impairment, and an 18% reduction in caregiver stress. But the researchers also identified a major implementation challenge: only 31% of referred families completed the…