Parkside Psychiatric Hospital & Clinic in Tulsa is pairing the power of remote monitoring technology with new educational opportunities for its staff to ensure the state’s most vulnerable youth receive the best behavioral health care.
For years, Oklahoma has ranked among the unhealthiest states for behavioral health, physical health and substance use. In the years following the pandemic, youth health problems only increased.
In 2022, the growing problem pushed Parkside to exclusively serve younger patients, from 5-year-olds to 26-year-olds. The influx of patients with major depressive disorder, anxiety issues, and suicidal tendencies, among other behavioral health conditions made it challenging for Parkside to complete patient safety checks and engage young patients.
“Patient safety is the number one thing that I think about every day,” says Brad McDaris, chief nursing officer at the 120-bed psychiatric hospital and outpatient clinic. “In fact, it keeps me awake at night.”
This spring with the help of a nearly $82,000 grant from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma, Parkside implemented a new program called ProgressionSafe to better monitor patients and establish new pathways for mental health professionals to develop additional skills and advance their careers.
The Blue ImpactSM grant program targets social and economic factors that influence health, including gaps in access to care that’s vital to better health outcomes.
“BCBSOK is focused on improving access to behavioral health care in Oklahoma and proud to support Parkside in their effort to provide opportunities for professionals to gain additional expertise,” says BCBSOK Director of Community Affairs Brook Townsend. “The monitoring provided by ProgressionSafe is innovative and the looks toward the future of behavioral health for Oklahoma children.”
The ProgressionSafe program helps hospital staff monitor patients remotely through new ObservSmart technology. Inpatients are required to wear a Bluetooth-enabled device around their wrist or ankle that can only be removed upon discharge.
Nurses and mental health techs are alerted when a patient’s mandatory observation check is approaching or if a check is late. Safety checks are completed every 15 minutes to confirm a patient’s location, observe behaviors, monitor patient-specific risks and ensure overall safety.
Patients in different risk groups require different care, and real-time feedback shows staff if a patient is in the gym, the sunroom or elsewhere. During checks, staff use the platform’s portal to document if a child is angry, happy, or demonstrating unusual behavior. Tracking these changes can help staff quickly bring in a therapist or other specialist to better treat patients.
Previously, there was no good way to effectively track patients and hold staff accountable for safety checks, McDaris says. Since going live in April, he says the technology has made a noticeable impact.
“Parents who are actively involved and engaged in their child’s treatment always ask a few things: How are they? Are they safe? Are they participating?” he says. “We can now say, ‘Yes, they are.’ We can point to actual times during the day.”
Career development
Mental health technologists are typically entry-level roles that require direct interaction with patients. These professionals are often under-trained for the job and face high stress levels and turnover rates.
ProgressionSafe is addressing those challenges by providing upskilling and educational opportunities. For example, Parkside provides study materials, group classes and practice exams to help employees prepare for accreditation testing.
In the initial 90 days of the program rollout, 30% of Parkside’s mental health technicians underwent the certification test, prepping them for their next qualification. Over the course of the full year, Parkside aims to advance at least 100 mental health techs, with at least half attaining a second accreditation.
Peace of mind
With the new observation system and career pathways to educate and retain mental health employees, McDaris says sleepless nights worrying about patient safety are fewer than ever before.
“This has helped tremendously to provide peace of mind to our patients and their families,” he says. “Having this system in place to make sure safety checks are done has allowed me to take a breath and know my patients are safe.”