Interdisciplinary cooperation to combat health care violence: still a long way to go

Hesitancy in the past on the part of JCAHO, AMA, ACEP, and other influential health care industry organizations to even recognize that a need for security exists is giving way to voiced concern about increasing violence directed at physicians and other health care professionals, as well as patients. However, the industry's movers and shakers still profess a hands-off approach when it comes to working together with security professionals to take specific steps to reduce violence. Nevertheless, there has been some progress, albeit slow, by physicians and other professionals in drawing on the experience and expertise of security professionals. In this report, we'll bring you up to date on the current status of interdisciplinary cooperation, including some examples of actual cooperation between security directors and two other health professionals--social workers and mental health officials--to spot persons prone to violence before they act.