Suicide Attempts After Emergency Room Visits: The Effect of Patient Safety Goals

In 2007 the Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goals included a requirement addressing risks associated with patient suicidality. The rational for this requirement was that suicide has been the most frequently reported sentinel event since the inception of the Sentinel Event Policy in 1996. The Patient Safety Goals on suicide required hospitals implement actions to assess suicide risk, meet client’s immediate safety needs and provide information such as a crisis hotline to individuals and family members for crisis situations. This study performed a secondary data analysis to assess the effect of the 2007 Joint Commission Patient Safety Goals on suicide attempts among patients following treatment at hospital emergency rooms among individuals enrolled in the Florida Medicaid program. A difference-in-difference approach compared changes in rates of suicide attempts for individuals with a primary mental health diagnosis and individuals with a physical health diagnosis after emergency room treatment. In the 6 months following treatment, suicide rates declined after implementation of the goals among patients treated for a primary mental health diagnosis, and increased among patients with a poisoning diagnosis, compared to individuals with a physical health diagnosis. The goals were associated with a reduction in suicide attempts after emergency room treatment.