Realistically, a clinician is not always able to prevent a suicide in a determined patient. However, CRICO has developed guidelines with Harvard medical faculty over the past 10 years to assist primary care and mental health professionals in their decision-making. The documents address the process of identifying or managing at-risk patients in a hospital or outpatient setting, as well as collaboration issues among mental health and primary care clinicians.
Some common risk management themes identified by CRICO include:
- lack of an ongoing, documented assessment of suicide risk, especially prior to hospital discharge, a change in privileges, or a change in clinical status,
- lack of documentation to reflect a clinical rationale regarding treatment decisions, and
- inadequate patient supervision.