Case Study: Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital achieves dramatic cuts in behavioral‑health consult time and faster ED transfers with Amwell telepsychiatry

Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital Improves Acute Behavioral Health Access and Response Time With Telepsychiatry

Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital, a 332‑bed nonprofit in Vero Beach, Florida, struggled with delayed behavioral health consults because inpatient psychiatrists had to leave their unit and walk across campus to the ED, which pushed consults to the end of the day, increased unnecessary discharges and high‑acuity referrals, raised costs, and contributed to psychiatrist turnover. To address this, the hospital partnered with Aligned Telehealth, a division of Amwell, to deploy a telepsychiatry service.

Aligned Telehealth (Amwell) implemented 24/7 virtual psychiatry consults in the ED and on medical floors, starting with after‑hours in December 2018 and expanding to full coverage by February 2019; the program later rolled out to four other Cleveland Clinic Florida hospitals. The result: average consult response time fell from more than 24 hours to under 30 minutes in the ED and under 40 minutes on floors, transfers out of the ED dropped to less than four hours, virtual consults doubled in 2019 and now average more than 220 per month, and staff psychiatrist turnover and workflow disruptions were substantially reduced.

Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital

Anne W. Posey

Assistant Administrator of Behavioral Health