State Hospital Launches New Public Dashboard

Arizona State Hospital Civil Treatment Facility Building.

The Arizona Department of Health Services has released a new series of dashboards to provide real-time public information about the Arizona State Hospital (ASH). These dashboards will be updated daily to enhance transparency and foster understanding of operations and outcomes at the Hospital’s Civil and Forensic campuses. ADHS and ASH are committed to accountability and to providing the highest caliber of care to patients and residents, and hope this new tool will provide insight into the Hospital’s performance.

While future enhancements are planned, the first round of data dashboards will provide information on:

• Current and historic average daily census, including bed utilization rates.
  
• Admission and discharge volumes (patient throughput).
• Current fiscal year discharge statistics.

These dashboards will ensure the Hospital’s community partners have up-to-date information and will facilitate more patient care coordination and collaboration with community-based treatment teams. As highlighted in the recent report to the Governor’s Office and the State Legislature, system-wide clinical collaboration is critical to the successful treatment and community reintegration of our patients. 

Over the course of 2024, these dashboards will be further expanded to incorporate high-level patient data including age ranges, gender, race and ethnicity, primary language, and average length of stay. Treatment at the Hospital is considered the highest and most restrictive level of inpatient psychiatric care in the state, and ASH serves as an important part of an interconnected continuum of mental health care. Monitoring shifts in patient demographics will help all parties better understand emerging treatment needs in the community.  

Additionally, the Hospital is working with its partners to provide data detailing collaboration efforts between ASH and the outpatient treatment network, as well as a broad overview of the patients currently approved for discharge from the Civil Campus and are awaiting placement at a lower level of care.

The Hospital provides long-term inpatient care to individuals on an involuntarily basis, pursuant to a court order due to the severity of their mental illness or behavioral disorder, as a result of their involvement in the criminal justice system, and/or their propensity to pose an imminent risk to public safety should they be released to the community.

We are hopeful this dashboard will be a tool for greater public transparency about hospital operations, but will also show how ASH is just one small part of the larger behavioral health system in our state. Through partnership and transparency, we can help ensure access to the Arizona State Hospital for those who need treatment at the highest level, safeguard patient rights, and facilitate holistic treatment and recovery.