Where the Rubber Meets the Road: How to Develop and Sustain Behavioral Emergency Response Teams in Collaboration with Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Services

Thursday, November 7, 2024

10:55 AM – 12:10 PM EST

Location: Monroe

Lead Speaker(s)

Anita Chang, DO

Clinical Assistant Professor
Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio

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Speaker(s)

Ashley K. Smith, MMSc, PA-C

Physician Assistant
Grady Hospital
Atlanta, Georgia
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Emily Fries, MSN, PMHNP-BC (she/her/hers)

Senior Nurse Clinician
New York University Langone Medical Center
New York, New York

Abstract: Behavioral Emergency Response Teams (BERTs) have gained popularity in their conceptualization, but standardization in implementation and operations are lacking compared to the medical equivalent of Rapid Response Teams (Parker et al., 2020). In 2020, the AMA Journal of Ethics published a position paper which called for BERTs to replace the common practice of security-only response teams for patients with behavioral crises. The authors stated, “[m]aking BERTs an obligatory hospital service would support patient-centered, compassionate care” (p.960, Parker et al., 2020).

This workshop will showcase, compare, and contrast BERT structure and operation from three different hospital systems from three distinct areas of the United States.The concept of BERT as a possible equity-promoting intervention will be discussed alongside existing healthcare inequities and implicit bias. An inter-professional panel of speakers will then describe the practical details of BERT implementation in the inpatient medical setting, including promoting integration and education on medical units, facilitation of proactive models of care, and inter-professional team members’ roles.

10 minutes - Anita Chang, DO, will introduce the presenters, describe the theoretical basis of BERT and review relevant evidence-base, including the Parker et al., 2020 article cited above.

10 minutes - Ashley K. Smith, MMSc, PA-C, CAQ-Psychiatry, will share the Grady Memorial Hospital model for their BERT, outline the team’s initiation, and describe hospital leadership engagement.

10 minutes - Brian Eddy, Psychiatric Care Technician, will share the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center model for their BERT and discuss the socialization amongst medical and surgical colleagues, mechanics of integration into unit practice, and education of key stakeholders on medical units.

10 minutes - Emily Fries, BSN, RN-BC, will share the New York University Langone Health model for their BERT including the interdisciplinary proactive interventions for both primary and secondary prevention of behavioral dyscontrol in the medical setting.

20 minutes - Break-Out Groups: Each presenter will lead a breakout group on topics related to their segment of the presentation to facilitate discussion, interaction, and deeper-dives amongst participants. Groups will focus on the following 4 areas: theoretical base and ethics; BERT initiation and leadership engagement; BERT socialization and de-escalation education for med-surg units; and, proactive strategies and interventions.

15 minutes - We will bring the larger group back together to share thoughts and answer any questions that may have arisen.
Learning Objectives:
Propose a process for starting a Behavioral Emergency Response Team (BERT).
Identify ways encourage institutional support for development and funding for BERTs on medical units
Compare and contrast different models of BERT and describe proactive BERT interventions.