Suicide Assessing Patients’ Safety and Physician Responsibilities
Course Overview
As many as 50,000 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 course was developed to increase awareness in evaluating risk for suicide, assessing the patient’s safety, and recommendations for counseling and treatment options. Areas of potential liability, strategies for legal risk management, and disclosure guidelines will also be discussed.
Faculty
Christine Yu Moutier, M.D.,
Chief Medical Officer, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Dr.
Christine Yu Moutier knows the impact of suicide firsthand. After losing
colleagues to suicide, she dedicated herself to fighting this leading cause of
death. As a leader in the field of suicide prevention, Dr. Moutier joined AFSP
as Chief Medical Officer in 2013, and it’s through her passion and commitment
that we see a lasting impact via research, education and support to communities
across the U.S. Her focus on health equity and culture transformation has been
critical to advancing suicide prevention efforts.
She has
testified before the U.S. Congress and provided multiple Congressional
briefings on suicide prevention. She has presented to the White House and at
the National Academy of Sciences, she co-anchored CNN’s Emmy Award winning Finding Hope suicide prevention town
hall, and has appeared as an expert in The New York Times, The
Washington Post, Time magazine, The Economist, The
Atlantic, the BBC, CNN, NBC and other print and television outlets.
Since
earning her medical degree and training in psychiatry at the University of California,
San Diego, Moutier has been a practicing psychiatrist, professor of psychiatry,
dean in the medical school, and medical director of the Inpatient Psychiatric
Unit at the VA Medical Center in La Jolla, treating diverse patient populations
from Asian refugees to veterans to corporate and academic leaders. Dr. Moutier
has authored a clinical suicide prevention handbook which released in 2021, and
numerous articles and book chapters for medical and general audiences. Most
recently, she co-led a partnership effort with the American Academy of
Pediatrics (AAP), AFSP and NIMH to establish a new National Blueprint for Youth
Suicide Prevention, being released in March 2022.
Intended Audience
This activity is designed for physicians, residents, other health care professionals and students in all health care professions.
Course Objectives
- Describe the recommended steps for assessing a patient’s risk for suicide.
- Determine how to respond to a patient’s disclosure of suicidal thoughts or other indications of suicide risk in ways that help the patient, help reduce suicide risk, and may increase the odds of the provider prevailing in any future malpractice litigation.
- Explain why prevention steps are still effective and important to take even though predicting suicidal behavior is not possible on an individual level.
- Restate why it is imperative to thoroughly document key relevant information pertaining to suicide risk assessment and steps taken.
Consider options for clinical treatment planning, including when to refer to specialty care, when to hospitalize, and the preventive value of simply enhancing follow-up contact or communication. - Discern whether disclosure of a patient’s suicide risk to a third party is a violation of confidentiality.
Course Fees
Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) Physician Member: $40.00
MMS Resident/Student Member: Free
Non-Member Physician: $90.00
Non-Members Resident/Student: $20.00
Allied Health Professional/Other: $32.00
Format & Estimated Time to Complete: Text, 1 hour
Accreditation and Credit Information
Accreditation Statement
The Massachusetts Medical Society is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
AMA Credit Designation Statement
The Massachusetts Medical Society designates this internet enduring material for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
This activity meets the criteria for the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine for risk management study.
Approval Statement
Through
the American Board of Medical Specialties (“ABMS”) ongoing commitment to
increase access to practice relevant Continuing Certification Activities
through the ABMS Continuing Certification Directory, this activity has met the requirements as a Lifelong Learning CME
Activity (apply toward general CME requirement) for
the following ABMS Member Boards:
Allergy and Immunology
Anesthesiology
Colon and Rectal Surgery
Family Medicine
Medical Genetics and Genomics
Nuclear Medicine
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Plastic Surgery
Preventive Medicine
Psychiatry and Neurology
Radiology
Thoracic Surgery
Urology
National Commission on Certification of Physicians Assistant (NCCPA)
Physician Assistants may claim a maximum of 1.00 Category 1 credit for completing this activity. NCCPA accepts AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ from organizations accredited
by ACCME or a recognized state medical society.
Exam/Assessment: A score of 70% or higher is required to receive AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™.
Activity Term
Original Release Date: April 1, 2022
Review Date (s): N/A
Termination Date: April 1, 2025
System Requirements
Desktops/Laptops
Windows 10
Mac OSX 10.6 higher
Most modern browsers including:
IE 11+
Firefox 18.0+
Chrome latest version
Safari 12+
Mobile/Tablet
iOS devices beginning with OS version 10 or higher (includes, iPhone, ipad and iTouch devices)
