Resource

The transition from inpatient to outpatient behavioral health care is a critical time for patients with a history of suicide risk—as well as for the health care systems and providers who serve them. According to research, in the month after patients leave inpatient psychiatric care, their suicide death rate is 300 times higher in the first week and 200 times higher in the first month than the general population, but nearly a third of them do not make it to outpatient care in this time frame. However, when health care providers work together to build connectedness across care settings, encourage involvement by family and community supports, and minimize care gaps, more lives can be saved.