Zero Suicide Initiative yields good results

Avera Health is evaluating positive outcomes of its robust and direct role in the national Zero Suicide Initiative.

Avera health care professionals are integrating behavioral health care into more aspects of overall care, using a quality improvement framework modeled on the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention’s 2012 key concept, Zero Suicide.

That program, which Avera initially implemented in its behavioral health inpatient units, seeks to engage more health care systems to enhance commitments to patient safety and to the safety and support of clinical staff that treat those patients. Matthew Stanley, DO, Vice President for Avera’s Behavioral Health Clinical Service Line, said the first-year results are promising and that it’s just a beginning.

This includes:

•A 97-percent decrease system-wide in suicide attempts with patients who received Avera in-patient behavioral health care anywhere in our system after a documented suicide event

•A 98-percent decrease in emergency room visits from individuals who have had inpatient behavioral health care in Sioux Falls, Aberdeen and Marshall

•A 92-percent decrease in repeat behavioral health assessments from individuals who were previously seen as behavioral health inpatients system-wide

“This gives us hope we can continue to improve our approaches and make an impact in the scourge of suicide in our region,” Stanley said.

Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S., and nearly 45,000 people die from it each year. In the last 15 years, the rate of suicide has increased almost 25 percent.

“Avera’s focus is multi-faceted and much of our effort revolves around better screening to identify patients who might be at risk, as well as early intervention and enhanced access to treatment services,” said Stanley.