中文摘要
随着心理健康危机日益加剧以及行为健康专业人员短缺，寻求心理健康治疗的患者往往需要长时间等待才能获得医疗服务。本文研究诊所拥挤如何影响遭遇心理健康紧急状况的退伍军人的死亡率。研究发现，等待时间越长，患者错过后续心理健康就诊的可能性越高，进而增加其永久中断治疗的概率。急诊科就诊日至后续预约日期之间的等待时间增加一个标准差（11.7天），会使两年死亡率提高约1.5%。(JEL H51, I12, I13, I18)
Abstract
With a growing mental health crisis and a shortage of behavioral health specialists, those seeking mental health treatment often face long wait times to obtain care. I study how clinic congestion affects mortality for veterans experiencing mental health emergencies. I find that longer waiting times make it more likely that patients miss their follow-up mental health visit, consequently increasing the probability that they permanently disengage from care. A 1 standard deviation increase in wait time between the emergency department visit and follow-up appointment date (11.7 days) increases two-year mortality by about 1.5 percent. (JEL H51, I12, I13, I18)