Physician Practice

Q&A: What hands-on security interventions are acceptable?

Medical Environment Update, October 8, 2020

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by A.J. Plunkett (aplunkett@decisionhealth.com)

Last fall, as CMS and accrediting organizations increased their scrutiny of how hospitals address suicide risk, the question of whether security or police officers could be used as 1:1 monitors for high-risk patients became a recurring theme.

In the September issue, our sister publication Healthcare Safety Leader talked to several experts in the field about this issue, with the general consensus that it should only happen if absolutely necessary.
That spurred one reader to ask for more information.

The reader, who works in compliance for a hospital system with more than a dozen organizations, said they don’t use security for 1:1 observers, but sometimes do ask “both our in-house and contract security to intervene when patients become extremely agitated/aggressive.”

This is an excerpt from a member only article. To read the article in its entirety, please login or subscribe to Medical Environment Update.

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