In this section:

Behavioral Health

Texas Health Behavioral Health (THBH) provides evidence-based depression, anxiety, stress and substance abuse treatment and support to adults and adolescents. We offer individual, group and inpatient services at 15 facilities depending on consumers' unique needs. We also collaborate with community agencies across Dallas-Fort Worth to provide additional support if needed.

Our objective is to help consumers manage issues before they need costly emergency care or inpatient support. To achieve this, we offer free, virtual and in-person assessments performed by a licensed counselor to connect individuals with appropriate support options.

Recognizing the stigma and other obstacles that many people face when accessing mental health services, we make it quick and easy to access support through virtual evaluations and consultations. These are conducted in the privacy and comfort of home and can be scheduled online or through MyChart.

2021 Highlights

• Deployed virtual evaluations and intakes for the first time, allowing us to:
• Rapidly assess 21,899 people in our emergency departments.
• Conduct intensive outpatient program group therapy with 9,372 consumers who were unable or unwilling to attend in person.
• Complete 1,044 at-home psychiatric intake evaluations.
• Completed in-person evaluations for 7,499 individuals, a 45% increase over 2020.
• Reduced behavioral health inpatient falls with injuries to 0.05 per 1,000 patient days, a reduction of 92.2% since 2019. We also reduced elopements by 78.7% since 2019.

Snapshot: Pandemic Exacerbates Struggles

With a sharp rise in anxiety, depression, suicide and substance abuse across Texas during the pandemic, we have provided behavioral health support and services to bring relief, guidance and recovery to people in need.

"The COVID-19 pandemic and the isolation, fear, and economic fallout that has come with it has left many struggling," said Scott Domingue, chief operating officer and chief nursing officer of Texas Health Behavioral Health.

Mental health visits at our hospitals and behavioral facilities increased 17.4% in 2021 compared to 2020. Additionally, 10% more consumers sought emergency care for substance abuse and 33.6% more people required emergency care for opioid use disorders.

Telehealth

Virtual care delivery helps maintain continuity of care during the pandemic and provides a fast and convenient way to connect consumers lacking access to care to the resources they need. These technologies connect care teams with patients' families when they cannot meet in person and virtually facilitate outpatient therapy, treatment, education and rehabilitation.

2021 Highlights

• Invested in a new virtual care platform that manages Texas Health Physicians Group's (THPG) virtual scheduling, intake, waiting room and discharges; it will launch in 2022. Nearly 195,000 consumers used telehealth for primary care services during the year and 90% said they would recommend it to others.
• Completed virtual rounding on 21,904 cases and connected families to patients 3,441 times via video across the system.
• Introduced virtual diabetes education, enabling patients to have access to a diabetes educator during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Implemented hundreds of mobile video devices across Texas Health hospitals to allow patients to be able to visit with their families while visitation in the hospital was restricted.

Urgent Care

We make it easier for consumers to get support for illnesses and injuries that don't require emergency care in two ways:

Texas Health Breeze Urgent Care™

To bring urgent care into more neighborhoods and attract new consumers to Texas Health, we are opening urgent care clinics that offer easy, convenient and affordable care 365 days a year. Consumers can book same-day or next-day visits through On My Way, an online tool that provides scheduling availability. Additionally, COVID-19 testing is offered to patients with symptoms.

The clinics offer up-front pricing and accept most major insurance plans. For those without insurance, Texas Health Breeze locations offer a flat rate that includes onsite medications.

2021 Highlights

• Opened 15 clinics over the last 15 months to provide North Texans with urgent care services closer to home. To date, we have had 70,000 visits from 53,000 consumers, 40% of whom are new to our system. Feedback has been positive, exceeding our “likely to recommend” targets.

Mobile Urgent Care

Texas Health has an exclusive relationship with DispatchHealth, a mobile care provider that treats people where they live and work. By caring for people in their own environments, health professionals can identify social determinants of health that may be impeding well-being and offer resources and support. Many insurance plans cover the service and costs are similar to traditional urgent care.

Consumer Access Centers

Texas Health Physicians Group (THPG) is opening consumer access centers (CAC) to bring multiple practice types together. Grouping primary care, laboratory, pharmacy and specialty care in one location offers consumers convenient access to various services.

2021 Highlights

• Opened a second CAC on the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas campus.