* Abbreviation: ED — : emergency department Visits to the emergency department (ED) by children for mental health conditions have risen over the last decade, but not all EDs may… Click to show full abstract
* Abbreviation: ED — : emergency department Visits to the emergency department (ED) by children for mental health conditions have risen over the last decade, but not all EDs may be equally prepared to serve this vulnerable population. In “Children’s Mental Health Emergency Department Visits: 2007–2016” featured in this issue of Pediatrics , Lo et al1 analyzed a nationally representative sample of EDs and found that pediatric mental health visits rose by 60%, with visits for deliberate self-harm rising by a staggering 329%. This study fills a gap in the literature by describing the sites where children are increasingly seeking mental health care in terms of rural-urban location, pediatric volume, and children’s versus general ED setting. Although mental health visits increased across all ED visit types, of particular concern are rising visits at low-pediatric-volume and rural hospitals, which may be less well equipped to care for children with mental health needs. The National Pediatric Readiness Project, a multiphase quality-improvement initiative sponsored by the federal Emergency Medical Services … Address correspondence to Jennifer A. Hoffmann, MD, Division of Emergency Medicine, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, 225 E Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60611. E-mail: jhoffmann{at}luriechildrens.org
               
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