Healthcare News of Note: Youth mental health-related emergency department visits are on the rise as a result of the pandemic

• Between mid-March and October 2020, the share of mental health-related ED visits rose 24% among children ages 5 to 11 and 31% among those 12 to 17 years old compared to 2019 numbers.
• Results of a survey found that overall, hospital volumes are near 2019 levels but continue to be impacted by waves of COVID-19.
• The number of patient financial assistance transactions processed by TransUnion Healthcare increased 55% between September 2020 and September 2021, according to results of a survey.

Over the last few weeks, I have found these industry news stories that should be of interest to healthcare finance professionals.

1. Pandemic’s impact: Youth mental health-related emergency department visits rose by 24% for children ages 5-11 and 31% for those ages 12-17 between mid-March and October 2020

“Children’s health care professionals in the US have declared a national state of emergency in child and adolescent mental health,” according to a new infographic by the National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM) about the pandemic’s impact on children.  

“The ongoing stress, fear, grief, disruption of schooling and uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic has weighed heavily on children and teens, and many are having a tough time coping emotionally,” the infographic authors stated.

The authors also noted:

Between mid-March and October 2020, the share of youth mental health-related ED visits rose 24% among children ages 5 to 11 and 31% among those 12 to 17 years old compared with 2019. The numbers are from an article (click on link to the article in the table of contents)  by Reecca T. Leeb, PhD, and colleagues in the Nov. 13, 2020, edition of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

More than 140,000 children have experienced the death of a parent or grandparent caregiver from COVID-19, according to a news release from the National Institutes of Health. Black, Latino and Native American children have been hit especially hard, with research showing they have had up to 4.5 times the risk of losing a caregiver to COVID, compared with white children, the infographic authors stated.

Additional infographic topics

The infographic also explores the following topics:

• Parental views on COVID in schools and mandatory quarantining
• Vaccination rates among children
• Parental planning for vaccinations
• The role of mental health specialists, primary care physicians, schools and parents in combating low vaccination rates and poor mental health

2. U.S. hospital patient volumes are approaching 2019 levels, says McKinsey survey

Results of a McKinsey survey released Nov. 15 found that “overall, hospital volumes are near 2019 levels, but continue to be impacted by waves of COVID-19.” The survey of leaders at 100 private-sector hospitals across the United States was a repeat of a McKinsey survey conducted in mid-2021.

Survey highlights

The study authors highlighted the following findings:

• Emergency department visits are above 2019 levels across all regions.
• Procedural volumes across all regions are close to their 2019 baseline.
• Flat operating-room volumes appear to be partially driven by relatively lower outpatient clinic volumes. Eight of the 10 specialties with the lowest relative clinic volumes are surgical specialties, with plastic surgery and ENT clinic volumes still between 8% and 12% below 2019 levels.
• Lower volumes among specialty clinics appear to be due to capacity constraints, as a majority of respondents report access to care is worse now than it was pre-COVID-19.

“While most practices are trying to address access issues, the primary barrier is clinical staffing challenges,” the authors stated. “Ninety percent of respondents said staffing challenges are impacting elective procedure capacity, with plastic surgery, orthopedic surgery, and dermatology having some of the longest wait times for care.”

3. Financial assistance transactions increased more than 50% between September 2020 and 2021, according to TransUnion Healthcare

The number of financial assistance transactions processed by TransUnion Healthcare increased by 55% between September 2020 and September 2021, according to results of a data analysis described in a Nov. 8 news release.

“The data reflect millions of financial assistance transactions, from more than 1,000 hospitals and physician practices, conducted through TransUnion Healthcare in order to validate identity, determine charity options and assess a patients’ ability and propensity to pay,” the release states. “TransUnion Healthcare began collecting this data in September 2018 and has tracked an upward year-over-year trend, amounting to a 270% increase since that time.”

Jonathan Wiik, principal of healthcare strategy at TransUnion Healthcare, stated in the release that the data “reflect the increased financial pressure on healthcare systems as well as patients who are struggling with the burden of high healthcare costs. We are recommending that hospitals engage patients confidently and increase transparency and communication in regard to billing, beginning with providing patients a clear understanding of the cost of care at intake, and then streamlining financial clearance and charity screening throughout the revenue cycle.”

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Insight on how we failed the public when it comes to public health In the latest HFMA Voices in Healthcare Finance podcast, Brian Castrucci, DrPH, MA, an epidemiologist and CEO of the de Beaumont Foundation, discusses how we failed the public when it comes to public health.