Only 4% of 346 surveyed hospitals fully met recommended discharge practices for patients identified as at risk for suicide, according to a study conducted by The Joint Commission.
From a questionnaire sent to 1,148 hospitals, Joint Commission researchers asked about each organization's safety planning for preventing post-discharge suicide. Of the 346 hospitals that responded, 212 (61.3%) had formal safety plans, but 41 (19.3%) included all of The Joint Commission's recommendations.
The survey asked about formal safety planning, planning for lethal means safety, following up with patients after discharge, and providing warm handoffs to outpatient care, or initiating contact with and introducing a patient to a behavioral health clinician. The last three recommendations, on average, were used among a third of hospitals.
Only 14 hospitals met full criteria for implementing recommended suicide prevention efforts during discharge, the survey revealed.
These recommendations are not required by The Joint Commission's National Patient Safety Goal but are recommended by suicide prevention experts. Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the U.S., and hospitals are well positioned to prevent suicidal behavior and action.
"We know that half of people who die by suicide interact with the healthcare system in the month before their deaths," Kristen Mizzi Angelone, director of Pew Charitable Trusts's Suicide Risk Reduction Project, said in a March 12 news release. "We also know there are proven steps that hospitals can take to identify people at risk for suicide and link them to care."
The Pew Charitable Trusts funded the research, which was published Feb. 23 in The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety.