IRON MOUNTAIN — Michigan hospitals are proposing several changes to improve care for behavioral health patients “boarding” in emergency departments.

Boarding occurs when patients wait in the emergency department for an assessment or until an inpatient bed becomes available. Due to a lack of inpatient psychiatric beds across the state, hospitals are caring for more than 100 behavioral health patients every day in emergency rooms, according to the Michigan Health and Hospital Association.

“Behavioral health patients are not receiving the care they need in an ED, which do not have the providers, services or infrastructure needed to deliver the appropriate care,” MHA said Monday in a news release. “Meanwhile hospitals are spending significant resources to care for patients until they find a replacement, reducing a hospital’s capacity to care for other patients needing emergency services.”

Some psychiatric patients may spend more than two days waiting in an emergency department, the association said.

MHA has proposed the following to Michigan lawmakers:

— Expand three-hour assessment responsibility by allowing clinically qualified staff to conduct pre-admission screenings. This expands the number of personnel available to conduct assessments in first three hours of a patient presenting in an ED.

— Expand hospital swing bed eligibility to include inpatient behavioral health patients. Swing beds typically are for patients whose needs can’t be met at home, but who no longer require acute care.

— Remove arbitrary commercial insurance limitations on the length of inpatient psychiatric admissions.

— Require the disclosure of the availability of community based mental health and substance use disorder services and integrate that information with the Michigan Crisis and Access Line to support patient discharges and access.

— Provide reimbursement for services provided to behavioral health patients while boarded in EDs awaiting further psychiatric treatment.

Several bills have been introduced in the Michigan Legislature related to behavioral health, with input from MHA.

They include:

— Senate Bill 802, introduced by Sen. Paul Wojno, D-Warren: Requires sharing of the availability of community based mental health and substance use disorder services and integrates that information with the Michigan Crisis and Access Line.

— Senate Bill 806, introduced by Sen. Roger Hauck, R-Mount Pleasant: Expands the three-hour assessment responsibility by allowing clinically qualified staff to conduct pre-admission screenings for a patient presenting in an ED.

— Senate Bill 811, introduced by Sen. Mark Huizenga, R-Walker: Expands hospital swing bed eligibility to include inpatient behavioral health patients, beyond existing acute care or skilled nursing care patients.

MHA is working with other lawmakers for introduction of additional legislation, the association said.