title: Hospital security and patient elopement: protecting patients and your healthcare facility.
abstract: Regulatory and financial consequences of adverse events associated with patient elopements are bringing new challenges to healthcare security to develop policies and procedures to prevent and respond to such incidents. This article provides an overview of the problem of elopement in healthcare and what it means to the security function; gives a working knowledge of healthcare related standards and guidelines aimed at reducing patient elopement; and reviews the elements of an elopement prevention and response plan for your organization.
authors.affiliation: University of North Carolina Hospitals, Chapel Hill, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D001107:Architectural Accessibility; D014487:Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S.; D006272:Health Facility Environment; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D007591:Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations; D016365:Liability, Legal; D016134:Organizational Policy; D061214:Patient Safety; D012149:Restraint, Physical; D012308:Risk Management / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012637:Security Measures; D014481:United States; D055816:Wandering Behavior