Behavioral health has long been caught between two imperatives: delivering exceptional care and ensuring financial viability. At Connections Health Solutions, we're proving there's a third option: a model that's financially viable because it delivers on its mission. 

At Becker's recent CEO+CFO Roundtable, Tom Fuller, Connections’ Chief of Staff and Director of Corporate Development, laid out the financial logic behind effective crisis care. The issue is clear: every person experiencing a behavioral health emergency who isn’t connected quickly to the right level of care will end up in a more costly setting. Ultimately, these delays increase costs for the system and for the individual, delaying effective treatment and often allowing conditions to worsen rather than stabilize. 

The diversionary model: creating value through prevention  

Core to the Connections model is the commitment that we never turn individuals experiencing a behavioral health emergency away, regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay. Many would consider this financially risky, or even untenable. Yet the model works—not despite serving this population, but because it addresses a critical gap in how healthcare systems respond to crisis. 

That gap is significant. More than half of all healthcare spending—56.5%—is associated with care for individuals with behavioral health conditions. Yet when these individuals experience a crisis, they wait an average of 18 hours to be seen in a hospital for psychiatric symptoms. This is not just inefficient; it pushes people into the most expensive care settings while delaying access to the treatment they actually need. The consequences extend well beyond the hospital: although only 18% of U.S. adults have a mental health disorder, 76% of adults in jail do, demonstrating how failures in crisis response spill over into costly justice system involvement. 

The solution is true diversion. Connections does not simply accept transfers from overwhelmed emergency departments (EDs); it prevents ED visits and inpatient admissions altogether. The data underscores this distinction: 100% of individuals admitted to Connections’ 23-Hour Observation Unit meet inpatient criteria upon arrival. These are individuals in acute crisis who require timely, clinically appropriate care—not a prescription and a delayed follow-up.  

The financial impact is clear, but the human impact is equally compelling. When crisis stabilization centers successfully care for individuals who would otherwise occupy emergency department beds for hours or days—or require inpatient psychiatric admission—they not only generate real savings for the broader healthcare system, they also ensure people in crisis receive timely, compassionate, and specialized care tailored to their needs. 

Where mission and margin align 

Offering a reliable solution to individuals in crisis requires more than good intentions. It also requires long-term financial stability. Sustainability is not just good business; it is a commitment to the patients, partners, and communities who rely on us to be there when it matters most. This is where mission and margin align. The same operational and clinical rigor that satisfies investors also ensures communities have dependable access to care. 

Behavioral health does not require a choice between high-quality care and financial sustainability. When crisis care is designed correctly and is accessible regardless of ability to pay, clinically appropriate, and truly diversionary, it works because it directly addresses the most expensive gaps in the system. The outcomes reinforce this approach. Comprehensive crisis systems have demonstrated a 40% decrease in behavioral health spending within a market and have avoided $260 million in inpatient care costs. 

In behavioral health crisis care, the lack of accessible, high-quality alternatives drives unsustainable costs. By never turning anyone away and preventing unnecessary emergency department visits and inpatient admissions before they occur,

Connections demonstrates what healthcare systems everywhere are searching for: a model in which doing the right thing for patients is also the financially responsible choice. 

Learn more about the True Costs of Behavioral Health Care by reviewing the 2025 report: True Costs Report 

SOURCES: 

• Davenport, S., Gray, T. J., & Melek, S. (2020). Behavioral Health and Healthcare Spending. Milliman. 

• Nicks, B. A., & Manthey, D. M. (2012). The impact of psychiatric patient boarding in emergency departments. Emergency Medicine International, 2012. 

• Balfour, M., & Zeller, S. (2023). Community-based crisis services, specialized crisis facilities & law enforcement partnerships. Psychiatry Online