When developing the 2020-2025 Georgia Suicide Prevention Strategic Plan, Workgroup Leaders agreed on the importance of integration of suicide prevention in healthcare. As such, they designated Goal 1 of the plan to this important issue:

GOAL 1: 

Promote the integration of suicide prevention as a core component of public and private behavioral health and healthcare systems.

Recently, the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC)  announced a new tool has been released by the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, which can assist healthcare providers in meeting this goal. Their Sample Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) provides inpatient and outpatient healthcare providers with a foundation for building effective partnerships for providing suicide care. Based on the Action Alliance’s guidelines for best practices in care transitions, the Sample MOU outlines steps inpatient and outpatient healthcare providers can take to reduce risk of suicide during critical transitions in services.