Legal Advisor : Legal Duties and Options when a Patient Raises Suicide
As many as 36,000 people in the U.S. die each year by their own hand. Among those, approximately 75% had seen a physician within a year before their death-45% to 66% within the prior month. This CME activity increases awareness about the recommended next steps he or she should take if a patient mentions suicide. The recommendations include assessing the patient's risk for following through and understanding the legal repercussions if the patient does commit suicide.
Learning Objectives
- Restate why it is imperative to thoroughly document all patient discussions about suicide.
- Determine whether to refer a patient to outpatient psychiatric treatment, recommend voluntary inpatient treatment, or take more drastic action.
- Discern whether disclosure of a patient's comment about suicide to a third party is a violation of confidentiality
- Determine how to respond to a patient's mention of suicide in ways that help the patient and may increase the odds of the provider prevailing in any future malpractice litigation.
Course Fees
MMS Member Physicians: $12
Nonmember Physicians: $22
Allied Health Professionals: $9.60
Format: Text
CME Credit: 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™, risk management study
