Behavioral Health Treatment In Chesco Shifted To Telehealth

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — Emergency visits dropped during the pandemic, and telehealth visits are more common, but a Tower Health spokeswoman says more people are getting treatment for behavioral health than were pre-pandemic in Chester County.

Brandywine Hospital-Tower Health is open for comprehensive behavioral health services at its Caln Township location, but visits to hospitals are down in the pandemic.

Wei Du, MD, Interim Chair of Psychiatry at Brandywine Hospital shared finding from recent observation of the pandemic here. Dr. Du is also Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Drexel University College of Medicine and Chair of the Department of Academic Medicine at Tower Health.

Based on CDC reports, Du said, overall Emergency Department visits, were down 40 percent across the country from March to April, compared to the same period last year, especially non-respiratory or non-COVID related visits.

"This trend was also reflected in Emergency Department visits for behavioral health, which were down," said Du.

He said Tower Health was able to stay compliant with regulations, from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. "We have been following the guidelines and recommendations from CDC and Pennsylvania Department of Health. We did adjust our daily capacity in order to properly practice social distancing on our inpatient units and maintain therapeutic environments and quality of care."

Du said that with restrictions on public movement being lifted beginning in May, and as our hospitals have implemented careful protocols for preventing the spread of the coronavirus, "We have seen a trend toward more behavioral health volumes in our Emergency Department."

Another contributor to lower demand for emergency psychiatric treatment, she suggested, is the rapid expansion of telehealth services by Tower Health and other providers. That trend has had the opposite effect, bringing more people into treatment.

"Recent reports have shown that requests for psychiatric appointments are significantly higher than pre-COVID-19. Many of these individuals are being seen by mental health professionals via telehealth. Brandywine Hospital data is consistent with the national trend," said Du.

The pandemic's move toward telehealth visits is moving more into treatment, and there appear to be more in need of behavioral services, in relation to COVID-19.

Higher rates of psychiatric disorders have been reported in both people diagnosed with COVID-19 and people without symptoms of the virus, according to Du's research.

Research found PTSD, anxiety, depression, and insomnia have been reported in patients who recovered physically from COVID-19. Du pointed to a recent report from the Commonwealth Fund, which found one-third of American adults reported experiencing anxiety, stress, and sadness and 30 percent of Americans have faced the negative impacts from the pandemic.

"Experts are predicting a surge of mental health needs. As stated above, people have begun to seek help for mental health issues via telehealth, which is very encouraging," Du said.

Brandywine Health Pavilion in Caln Township will likely treat patients from all over Chester County, said Mary Beth Lowery, Director of Marketing at Brandywine Hospital. "Outside of our own Emergency Department, our primary patient referrals come from the four other hospitals located in Chester County."