The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has enhanced its online mental health bed registry. The goal is to reduce wait times for people in crisis.
The system, known as the Behavioral Health Statewide Central Availability Navigator (BH SCAN), now updates hourly instead of once per day. It also works with the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, so mobile crisis teams can access real-time information about available mental health beds. The program allows dispatchers to more quickly locate them in the caller's area, reducing care disruptions.
The new Automated Bed Availability (ABA) function replaces the previous manual update process to provide more accurate, real-time data to health care providers as well. According to the DHHS, North Carolina is the first state to implement ABA.
The system currently covers more than 3,500 mental health care beds across 112 facilities statewide, including inpatient psychiatric care and substance use treatment.
