• Stephanie K Doupnik, Cadence F Bowden, Diana Worsley, Cameron Keating, Kyla Cassidy, Ashley A Foster, William Quarshie, Jungwon Min, Zachary Meisel, and Steven C Marcus.
• From the Division of General Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA.
• Pediatr Emerg Care. 2024 Dec 9.

ObjectivesSuicide is a leading cause of death among adolescents. Emergency department (ED) visits for mental health concerns are rising, and telehealth is increasingly used to provide emergency mental health care. We conducted a national survey to describe suicide prevention practices and tele-mental health care in children's hospital EDs.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional survey of leaders at all 52 US EDs affiliated with dedicated children's hospitals (ie, hospitals that provide care only to children) to describe use of tele-mental health care and suicide prevention practices.ResultsLeaders from 41 EDs completed the survey (79% response rate). Tele-mental health care was used in 23 EDs (56%); there were no differences in ED structural characteristics between institutions with telehealth versus without telehealth. Among responding EDs, 40 (98%) reported they screen for suicide risk, and 29 (71%) reported they use a standardized approach to suicide prevention discharge planning. Risk reduction practices conducted at many but not all EDs included assessment of access to lethal means (n = 31, 86%), counseling on reduction of access to lethal means (n = 30, 73%) and providing patients with a list of professionals or agencies that they can contact in a crisis (n = 35, 85%). There were no differences in use of suicide prevention practices at EDs with versus without telehealth (P > 0.1 for all).ConclusionsApproximately half of children's hospital EDs use tele-mental health care, and hospitals with versus without tele-mental health care report similar rates of suicide prevention practice use. Opportunities exist to increase use of discharge safety practices.Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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