Suicide Prevention Programs Across U.S. Outpatient Mental Health Care Settings: Differences by Facility Ownership

This study aimed to examine whether facility ownership (public, private nonprofit, private for-profit ownership) was associated with provision of suicide prevention programs.

A retrospective cross-sectional study identified self-reported suicide prevention program status across 7,597 mental health facilities with outpatient settings by using data from the 2019 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator. Multivariable logistic regression models examined whether facility ownership was associated with availability of these programs.

In 2019, only 61.2% of facilities provided outpatient suicide prevention programs. Higher odds of program provision were associated with public ownership (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=1.64, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.37-1.97, p<0.001), facilities serving young adults (AOR=2.16, 95% CI=1.66-2.82, p<0.001) or serving seniors (AOR=1.44, 95% CI=1.27-1.63, p<0.001), and facilities accepting Medicare (AOR=1.34, 95% CI=1.16-1.53, p<0.001), compared with their counterparts, with significant differences across facility ownership types by rurality of locations. Facilities accepting uninsured patients (AOR=0.81, 95% CI=0.68-0.98, p=0.027) or Medicaid patients (AOR=0.76, 95% CI=0.62-0.92, p=0.006) had lower odds of providing these programs.

Facility ownership contributed to significantly different decisions on provision of outpatient suicide prevention programs. Maldistribution of these services should raise concerns, given nationwide efforts to prevent suicide and weak ownership regulations for mental health facilities. Understanding barriers and facilitators for deployment of these programs may improve access to suicide prevention services for all, especially for eligible patients in rural areas.