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Adolescent Suicide Attempt Data System

Reporting Adolescent Suicide Attempts

Oregon hospitals are required by law (Oregon Revised Statue 441.750) to report adolescent (under 18 years of age) suicide attempts to the Oregon Public Health Division.

Purpose

  • Estimate the magnitude of suicide attempts among Oregon adolescents and monitor possible increases, decreases and trends.
  • Understand factors associated with suicide and suicide attempts among adolescents.
  • Increase public awareness and develop programs that support suicide prevention.

Protocol

  • The Public Health Division has developed, in partnership with Oregon hospital emergency departments, an electronic data reporting system, known as ESSENCE (Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification for Community-Based Epidemics), that can be used to gather mandated statistical information about adolescent suicide attempts. No additional reporting by hospitals is needed to meet Oregon Revised Statue 441.750.
  • Prior to October 2017, a reporting facility was required to complete the Adolescent Suicide Attempt Report Form or ASADS Zero Attempts Form to the Injury and Violence Prevention Program and submit via fax. This is no longer required.

Follow-Up Responsibilities

  • Oregon Revised Statute 441.750 also required emergency departments to provide patients with information and referral to inpatient or outpatient community resources, crisis intervention or appropriate intervention. Hospitals should ensure that all patients receive an appropriate referral to community care. Youth can be referred to the county behavioral health program, to their primary care provider, or other support services. Hospitals can also share 988, the number for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Ensuring that patients and their caregivers have an established appointment for community care can support recovery and prevent future crisis.
  • In 2018, Oregon Health Authority, Public Health Division amended hospital administrative rules on inpatient discharge planning requirements as well as implementing requirement given passage of HB 3090 (2017), codified under ORS 441.053. These rule changes address general discharge planning requirements including specific requirements for discharging a patient hospitalized for mental health treatment or releasing a patient from the emergency department who presented with a behavioral health crisis. Pursuant to ORS 441.053, a hospital must adopt and implement policies for the release of a patient from the emergency department who presented with a behavioral health crisis. The legislation requires the policy, at a minimum, to meet the same policy requirements for a patient being discharged who was hospitalized for mental health treatment. Additionally, discharge policies for patients hospitalized for mental health treatment have been revised to include definitions and clarify the responsibilities of a member of the patient's care team. These changes do not affect discharge planning requirements necessary for all patients. For more information on these requirements, refer to the OHA Discharge Planning for Patients Presenting with Behavioral Health Crisis or Hospitalized for Mental Health Treatment Fact Sheet (pdf). You can also refer to the Emergency Department Discharge Practices for Behavioral Health Crisis Care: A Statewide Survey of Hospitals Report related to HB 3090 (pdf, July 2022).

Data Reports

Additional reports and plans are posted on the Injury and Fatality Data State Plans and Reports webpage

Additional Resources