Innovative use of technology could prevent suicide

02/18/17 07:13:am

When patients complete their own onsite assessments showing they are at high risk for suicide, Rogers now has a way to respond immediately.

If the answer related to the likelihood to commit suicide generates a score of three on a scale of zero to three, an alert is triggered out of Rogers’ proprietary outcome assessment system. The patient’s treatment team receives an immediate email and can respond right away.

“With increased use of technology, it’s critical that the information we receive gets appropriate attention in a timely manner,” says Terri Schultz, vice president, patient care. She adds, “In this case, if a patient is potentially suicidal, we absolutely have to ensure that we can act expeditiously. A life could be at stake.”

In addition to the team alert via email, the Rogers electronic health record is now configured to flag the patient record based on the patient’s responses on the Columbia Suicide Severity rating scale.

“These two system alerts are quite an innovative use of technology; no one else is doing anything like it, says Brian Kay, director, Clinical Effectiveness.