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Discover the latest news about Connections and best practices in behavioral health care—with critical insights for communities, managed care organizations, providers, and more

Crisis Education

Leading the transformative change movement in behavioral health crisis response

Behavioral health care's crisis response system is broken. Emergency rooms and jails often become default options for those needing care, despite their inability to provide adequate psychiatric treatment. To address this issue, the Roadmap...

May 18, 2023
Taylor Miranda, MPH
Crisis Education

Empowered Patient podcast: On-demand behavioral health crisis care with Colin LeClair

Colin LeClair, CEO of Connections Health Solutions, shares his concerns with Karen Jagoda from the Empowered Patient Podcast about the lack of resources for people needing behavioral health crisis care and solutions for urgent and emergency...

May 15, 2023
Connections Health Solutions
Crisis Education

An Imperfect Guide to Crisis Stabilization Units: Matching the Right Level of Care to Individual Needs

All crisis facilities should be able to provide care that is recovery-oriented and focused on helping the individual return to community-based care. Other core capabilities include:

May 05, 2023
Connections Health Solutions
Crisis Education

Taking the call: national advancements in crisis services

Dr. Margie Balfour, Connections Health Solutions’ Chief Clinical Quality Officer, and fellow industry leaders present on the topic of effective crisis services and the importance of collaboration.

Dec 13, 2021
Connections Health Solutions
Crisis Education

Beyond jails: community-based strategies for public safety

Connections Health Solutions’ Chief Clinical Quality Officer Dr. Margie Balfour and fellow industry leaders present proven solutions in a multimedia report that looks beyond jails to promote safe and thriving communities.

Nov 19, 2021
Connections Health Solutions
Crisis Education

Solving the mental health crisis through community collaboration

By Margie Balfour, MD, PhD, Chief of Quality & Clinical Innovation, Connections Health Solutions and Brad McKinney, LMSW, MPH, CPHQ, Behavioral Health Division Administrator, Banner – University Medicine   Editor’s Note: This blog pos...

Jun 08, 2021
Margie Balfour, MD, PhD
Crisis Education

Roadmap to the ideal crisis system

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY    THE CHALLENGE  There is broad recognition that behavioral health crises have reached epidemic proportion, with drug overdoses and suicides having overtaken traffic accidents as the two leading causes o...

Apr 09, 2021
Margaret E. Balfour, M.D., Ph.D.
Crisis Education

Cops, clinicians, or both? Collaborative approaches to responding to behavioral health emergencies

Abstract: How a community responds to Behavioral Health (BH)emergencies is both a public health issue and social justice issue. Individuals in BH crisis often receive inadequate care in emergency departments (EDs), boarding for hours or day...

Apr 09, 2021
Margaret E. Balfour, M.D., Ph.D.
Crisis Education

Tucson police department wins national recognition for mental health collaboration

TUCSON, AZ: The Tucson Police Department(TPD)has been selected to join the National LawEnforcement-Mental Health Learning SitesProgram.The Learning SitesProgram identifies model programs within police departments that can assist other law e...

Apr 09, 2021
Tucson Police
Crisis Education

Ensuring access to crisis services during COVID-19

Behavioral health crisis services provide an effective alternative to emergency departments (EDs), hospitals, and jails for patients with mental health and substance use emergencies. This alternative is especially important during a pandemi...

Apr 09, 2021
Margaret E. Balfour, M.D., Ph.D.
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