We want this number to go down. 

This data can be used to inform public health and mental health planners for a variety of programs including measuring the burden on mental health issue in Vermont's emergency departments, follow up for the patient upon ED discharge, etc.

For more data please visit Injury data webpage for data reports on this topic.

This measure, coupled with Vermont’s numbers of suicide death, will inform our knowledge of population based suicide related behaviors. These data can inform practitioners and public health planners as to how to plan interventions that are designed for both the individual practitioner and also community based prevention.

This indicator is part of Healthy Vermonters 2020 (the State Health Assessment) that documents the health status of Vermonters at the start of the decade and the population health indicators and goals that will guide the work of public health through 2020. Click here for more information.

• Vermont Department of Health
• Vermont Department of Mental Health
• Vermont Suicide Prevention Center 
• University of Vermont/Vermont Child Health Improvement Program (VCHIP)

This data will support assessment for need or evaluation of certain evidenced based programming such screening for suicidal ideation in the medical home and also increased communication with primary care or mental health provider.

Systems using evidence based programs covering prevention, screening and identification of older adults at risk and subsequent treatment and follow up are being developed in Vermont. Key strategies include the following: Zero Suicide, Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), universal screening suicidality in healthcare settings such as the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS), the Ask Suicide-Screening Questions (ASQ) toolkit, and other evidence based screening and treatments including the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS).

Vermont has adopted the Zero Suicide Framework in healthcare settings.  The foundational belief of Zero Suicide is that suicide deaths for individuals under the care of health and behavioral health systems are preventable. For healthcare systems dedicated to improving patient safety, Zero Suicide presents an aspirational challenge and practical framework for system-wide transformation toward safer suicide care.

The data will guide the overall planning for the Departments of Health and Mental Health and for state partners to coordinate systems work on suicide prevention programming.

The Vermont Uniform Hospitalization Discharge Data System collects information on emergency room and hospital visits. This indicator looks at emergency room visits for intentional self-harm in Vermont residents. Intentional self- harm is determined using billing codes for any of 20 diagnoses an individual can be given. Starting in October 2015, billing codes transitioned from ICD-9 and ICD-10, caution should be taken when comparing 2008 – 2014 rates (ICD-9) to the rates 2016 and forward. No rate is given for 2015 because of this change in methodology. Rates are age adjusted to the U.S. 2000 standard population. Age adjustment helps take into account the different age structures of the populations that visit the emergency room for intentional self-harm so Vermont’s rates can be compared to the U.S. and other jurisdictions.

Data is updated as it becomes available and timing may vary by data source. For more information about this indicator, click here.