New laws help screen mentally ill for suicide
The Daily AstorianJun 24, 2017
Hospitals in
The new state law is another thread in the patchwork of care for the mentally ill, who often fail to get proper treatment even when their behavior escalates into an emergency.
The state requires hospitals that admit patients for mental health treatment to have a protocol at discharge to assess suicide risk, the capacity for self-care, the need for outpatient treatment, a transition plan, and a timetable for follow-up appointments.
2 But hospitals that do not provide mental health treatment, like
Hospital administrators had argued that doctors and nurses were not equipped to counsel the mentally ill on top of the stressful, around-the-clock demands of an emergency room.
“Basically, we didn’t buy that,” said state Rep.
The new law, signed by Gov.
Hospitals will have to provide copies of emergency room release policies for patients in mental health crisis to the
Another new law signed by Brown requires public and private health insurers to cover behavioral health assessments and medically necessary treatment for people in mental health crisis, a mechanism to help finance care.
“These bills ensure that when Oregonians reach out for help in a behavioral health crisis, they can access a broad range of mental health professionals, emergency services and critical support systems,” Brown said in a statement Friday after a ceremonial signing with advocates for the mentally ill. “Now, Oregonians in their most vulnerable moments will have the tools they need to recover, without undue financial burden.”
3 Columbia Memorial and Providence Seaside work with
“CMH has been following this practice already and we are glad to have the state make this the standard policy for everyone.”
“Caring for patients with behavioral health needs is a priority, and we will be working on how best to implement targeted strategies in support of people in need.”
4 Social workers, police officers and prosecutors who regularly encounter the mentally ill recognize the challenge for emergency room doctors and nurses. But some have observed that hospitals at times seem unprepared to handle people in a behavioral health crisis and unable to link patients to treatment.
Tragedies, like the suicide of
Another suicide — Susanna Gabay’s Vicodin overdose in 2010 — inspired state action. The 21-year-old
Her parents, Jerry and
The 2015 law that set a protocol for hospitals when discharging mentally ill patients also clarified medical privacy to help avoid leaving loved ones in the dark. Patients are encouraged to authorize hospitals to disclose information to caregivers, such as prescribed medications and behavioral warning signs that demand immediate medical help.
Follow-up appointments must be scheduled within seven days after discharge, or hospitals must document why the seven-day goal is not possible.
The law was named the Susanna Blake Gabay Act.
5 New research released in April found that suicide risk among emergency room patients in mental health crisis is reduced if they receive suicide screening from an emergency room doctor, guidance at discharge and follow-up phone calls. The study, led by
“It’s very important, particularly with people in a fragile mental state, and super important if they may be suicidal, to want to have done an adequate assessment of their mental health condition, which is not always done. And in my personal experience, with my daughter, it was not done, when I was there anyway,” Gabay said.
“So you need to have an adequate assessment of what is the problem here. And then don’t just release them and say, ‘Hey, good luck.’ Give them a little bit of a transition. Have some plan about what you’re going to do. Make an appointment for them to see somebody.”