Suicide Prevention Programs Across U.S. Outpatient Mental Health Care Settings: Differences by Facility Ownership

What is it about?

This cross-sectional study of 7,597 outpatient mental health care settings revealed that only 61.2% of mental health facilities provide specialized suicide prevention programs. Publicly owned facilities and those not accepting Medicaid/uninsured were more likely to provide outpatient suicide prevention programs than their counterparts, with statistically significant differences by rurality of locations. Maldistribution of outpatient suicide prevention programs by ownership and payer mix should raise concerns given high-profile nationwide efforts to prevent suicide, as well as the weak nature of ownership regulations for mental health settings.

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