Referring

Once you have established that there is an abusive situation, whether it is a reportable situation or not, refer the patient to appropriately trained support services.
  • If you are at SUMC, contact Social Services at 723-5091 and a SW will come out to clinic or hospital department.
  • If you are a community physician, consider allowing the patient to use a phone privately to talk to a DV hotline (see Hotlines).
Either way, it is the responsibility of the medical care provider or the social worker to make sure that before the patient leaves your office or is discharged from the hospital, that someone has:
  • assessed suicidality
  • assessed safety
  • made sure patient has a safety plan
  • assessed safety of children/elders/dependent adults in the home