title: When psychiatrists are liable: risk management and violent patients.
abstract: In an era of rapid discharge and community treatment, psychiatrists must assess, with insufficient information, their patients' potential for committing a violent act outside of the hospital every time they authorize a pass or a discharge. The authors review court decisions on prediction of dangerousness and research data on the risk of homicide, assault, and suicide among released mental patients. They then discuss a risk-management approach to decision-making that consists of three components--risk assessment, risk evaluation, and risk reduction. The authors also provide a decision table that clinicians can use to identify factors that suggest a high risk of violence in a patient's current status, history, and treatment response.
mesh_terms: D005376:Financial Management / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006708:Homicide; D006801:Humans; D008318:Malpractice / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D012308:Risk Management / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D013405:Suicide / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States; D014754:Violence