Courtesy of Military Times
“Embedding mental health professionals within military units is producing some good results as troops have easier access to the help they need, the services’ surgeons general told lawmakers. The Army has seen a decrease of 41 percent in the inpatient admission rate for acute behavioral health issues “because we’ve been able to handle it at the local level, and intervene earlier” before crises happen, said Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen.
Nadja West, testifying Thursday before the Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense panel.The Army has been assigning behavioral health providers to operational units, and more soldiers are receiving care in an outpatient setting, instead of having to go to a hospital. That’s contributed to more visits to behavioral health, West said.Overall use of behavioral health care increased from about 900,000 visits in fiscal 2007 to more than 2.25 million in fiscal 2017, she said.”
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