Suicide is a public health crisis that cannot be ignored. As the 12th leading cause of death in the United States, this harrowing and heartbreaking reality can impact anyone and everyone: our friends, families, colleagues, and patients. During Suicide Prevention Month and beyond, we as healthcare professionals must work together to elevate awareness and prevention efforts and save lives.
Since our founding in 2017, we’ve seen firsthand the power of collaboration between primary care providers (PCPs) and behavioral health professionals to drive improved patient outcomes – addressing both physical and mental health. With 45% of people who die by suicide having seen their PCP within the month before their death, primary care leaders are in the perfect position to integrate behavioral health at their practices to address mental health crises such as suicide.
How Collaborative Care Can Address Patients at Risk for Suicide
With PCPs uniquely positioned to identify patients experiencing the most relevant risk factors contributing to suicide, these same PCPs are not well-equipped or trained to effectively address or treat these patients.
The solution for primary care, as proven by academic research, is collaborative care. With collaborative care, primary care leaders stand to save many lives by integrating behavioral health at their practices.
evolvedMD’s unique and clinically validated approach places clinicians onsite and in person within a collaborative care team led by the patient’s PCP. One of the main benefits of our model is the opportunity to proactively identify and treat adverse mental health conditions before they become severe.
When we integrate behavioral health at primary care practices, PCPs can identify depression and risk of suicide using screening instruments like the PHQ-9. Post-assessment, the PCP can immediately connect their patients with one of our on-site Behavioral Health Managers to begin treatment before symptoms become severe. This collaborative, comprehensive approach quickly and effectively addresses mild-to-moderate mental health symptoms that may elevate the risk of suicide.
In the event of severe depression or patients experiencing a crisis, evolvedMD’s collaborative team can immediately intervene to support patient care and safety. This team includes a Behavioral Health Manager, Clinical Supervisor, and an in-house Care Coordinator to support patients and connect to community resources if needed.
With the prevalence of suicidal ideation and an increase of observed patients in crisis, our team is unfortunately well-versed in handling escalated experiences. Recently, one of our Behavioral Health Managers was in a crisis situation where the PCP requested assistance with a patient experiencing a psychotic episode that was ultimately transported to in-patient care:
"The Behavioral Health Manager (BHM) had a patient in crisis who wasn't on her schedule, but had gone in to see her PCP. She was behaving strangely, so her PCP walked down the hall and asked our BHM to see her. They identified that she was having a psychotic episode and arranged for transport to a hospital. The PCP was grateful that our BHM was there to take the patient, and the practice manager later said, "This is a great example of exactly how this model is supposed to work."
Our enhanced psychiatric collaborative care model turns primary care practices into a comprehensive solution that changes and saves lives. If you’re a practice manager, a primary care provider, or a leader wanting to help patients experiencing suicidal ideation, we can work together to normalize care and provide access to life-saving services.