From Crisis to Care: Integrating Health Care with Public Crisis Response Systems

July 2023 marks the one-year anniversary of the launch of 988, a three-digit number for our national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline.

The launch of this number brought new attention and focus to the growing mental health crisis in our country. As such, policymakers are responding to this crisis by introducing bills and passing policies focused on integrating crisis support services with health care systems. These policies have important implications for how the existing crisis support system functions, how providers care for patients, and how payers ensure quality, correct billing, continuity of care.

During this virtual forum, we will:

• Examine the effects of the 988 hotline on our nation’s mental health landscape.
• Discuss the prospects and obstacles that may emerge from policy changes aimed at integrating crisis support services into health care systems.
• Understand how these new policies may impact the operation of crisis support services, patient care approaches, and how payers ensure quality, correct billing, and care continuity.

In this meeting, crisis support services include the methods used to offer immediate, short-term help to individuals who experience an event that produces emotional, mental, physical, and behavioral distress or problems. The most common services include crisis phone and text lines, such as 988, along with mobile crisis response teams.