Consultation-Liaison Case Conference: Proactive Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry in Critical Care.

We present a case of a patient with mania and psychosis who developed respiratory depression in the emergency department, prompting intubation and intensive care unit admission. While she was in the medical intensive care unit, the embedded psychiatry team optimized psychotropic medications, coordinated sedation strategies, and supported family engagement in her care. Experts in proactive Consultation-Liaison psychiatry discuss how different models of care exist along a spectrum of proactivity and the degree of care integration. We consider the unique challenges of providing proactive care for patients while boarding in the emergency department and explore the strengths and limitations of the embedded model of care, which can enhance the quality of care for individual patients but may limit population-level access when compared with proactive Consultation-Liaison psychiatry. With the implementation and expansion of proactive Consultation-Liaison psychiatry come opportunities for optimizing health equity, in addition to improving clinical and financial outcomes.