An interventional study of SPI+ Delivered by ED Staff and SPI+ Delivered by SPCC Clinicians in Suicide and Suicidal Ideation, sponsored by University of Pennsylvania. Enrolling by invitation at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-07-28.
Sponsored by University of Pennsylvania · Not applicable, Interventional, and Health services research
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness and implementation of a suicide prevention strategy delivered via telehealth in Emergency Departments. We will compare implementation of the Safety Planning Intervention plus follow-up calls (SPI+) delivered by Emergency Department (ED) staff to SPI+ delivered via ED referral to an off-site Suicide Prevention Consultation Center (SPCC).
Individuals at high risk for suicide often present to acute care settings, such as emergency departments (EDs), and then typically are hospitalized or referred for outpatient mental health treatment. Patients are at increased risk of suicide attempts and suicide following an ED visit and nearly half do not attend outpatient treatment. Brief, evidence-based clinical interventions, such as the Safety Planning Intervention with post-discharge telephone follow-up (SPI+), can reduce suicide risk, decrease hospitalizations, and increase engagement in outpatient services for suicidal patients discharged from the ED. Leveraging insights from implementation science and collaborative care, we propose a model in which ED staff will connect patients at risk for suicide to ED-credentialed mental health clinicians who are located external to the ED. These off-site clinicians will provide SPI+ via telehealth for ED patients prior to discharge and provide follow-up services after ED discharge as part of an innovative Suicide Prevention Consultation Center (SPCC). All participating EDs will begin in the Enhanced Usual Care phase, in which ED staff will deliver SPI+ to suicidal patients. EDs will then be randomized in pairs to begin referral to the SPCC in 3 month intervals. We will also conduct a cost evaluation to help determine scalability and sustainability.
569 studies on the registry are indexed under Suicidal Ideation; 203 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 2,814 is above the median of 80 across 469 interventional studies indexed under Suicidal Ideation.
Browse Suicidal Ideation studies →University of Pennsylvania is the lead sponsor of 1,668 studies on the registry; 235 are open to participants now.
Of its 158 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 109 (69%) have results posted.
Compared within Suicidal Ideation, this study's primary condition as ClinicalTrials.gg classifies it; the registry's first condition term is Suicide. The counts are of registry records indexed under each term, refreshed daily. How we classify →
Aim 1/Aim 3:
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria:
- Inpatient admission following the index ED visit per the EHR
Aim 2:
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
ED staff deliver SPI+ (Safety Planning Intervention plus 2 or more post-discharge telephone calls) to suicidal patients who are not admitted to an inpatient unit.
Behavioral: SPI+ Delivered by ED Staff
ED staff refer suicidal patients not admitted to an inpatient unit to the off-site Suicide Prevention Consultation Center (SPCC). SPCC clinicians will deliver SPI+ (Safety Planning Intervention plus 2 or more post-discharge telephone calls) to patients via telehealth.
Behavioral: SPI+ Delivered by SPCC Clinicians
ED staff will deliver SPI+ (Safety Planning Intervention plus follow-up phone calls) to patients at risk for suicide in the ED who are not admitted to an inpatient unit.
The Suicide Prevention Consultation Center (SPCC) will be located external to the Emergency Department (ED). ED staff will be able to refer patients at risk for suicide to the SPCC. Licensed and credentialed mental health clinicians will deliver SPI+ (Safety Planning Intervention plus follow-up phone calls) via telehealth to patients at risk for suicide in the ED who are not admitted to an inpatient unit.
Suicide Behavior Composite
Number of patients who had a documented suicide attempt or death by suicide
Time frame: 6 months after index ED visit
Outpatient Treatment Engagement - Count
Number of behavioral healthcare visits following discharge from index ED visit
Time frame: 6 months after index ED visit
Outpatient Treatment Engagement - Type
Types of behavioral healthcare visits following discharge from index ED visit
Time frame: 6 months after index ED visit
Safety Planning Intervention Scoring Algorithm (SPISA)
Fidelity of written safety plans post-discharge from index ED visit
Time frame: At index ED visit
Fidelity of Follow-up Calls
Number of patients who had 2 or more follow-up calls post-discharge from index ED visit
Time frame: 1 month after index ED visit
Reach/Penetration of Safety Plans
Proportion of patients with a completed safety plan documented in the medical record out of all patients identified as at risk for suicide by the ED staff
Time frame: At index ED visit
Reach/Penetration of Follow-up Calls
Proportion of patients who receive 2 or more telephone follow-up attempts out of all patients who received a safety plan
Time frame: 1 month after index ED visit
Suicide-related ED Visits and Psychiatric Hospitalizations
Number of ED visits and/or inpatient psychiatric admissions for suicidal ideation/behavior
Time frame: 6 months after index ED visit
Suicide Attempts
Number of patients who had a documented suicide attempt
Time frame: 6 months after index ED visit
Adoption
Proportion of clinicians with eligible patients who refer the patient to the SPCC
Time frame: At index ED visit
Utilization of Screening of Suicide Risk Among ED Patients
Proportion of ED patients who received the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale or equivalent evidence-based measure of suicide risk during index ED visit
Time frame: At index ED visit
Index ED Visit Inpatient Admission Disposition
Proportion of patients admitted for inpatient hospitalization out of all patients identified as at risk for suicide
Time frame: At index ED visit
Feasibility of SPCC
Will be assessed through semi-structured qualitative interviews with a randomly selected sample of clinicians, leaders, and patients, as well as by using the Feasibility of Intervention Measure (FIM)
Time frame: 9-12 months after ED crosses over to SPCC condition
Acceptability of SPCC
Will be assessed through semi-structured qualitative interviews with a randomly selected sample of clinicians, leaders, and patients, as well as by using the Acceptability of Intervention Measure (AIM)
Time frame: 9-12 months after ED crosses over to SPCC condition
Cost to Emergency Department of SPCC
We will assess average personnel and non-personnel costs to Emergency Department practices of delivering SPCC and EUC strategies, using Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing
Time frame: After ED crosses over to SPCC condition (2.25 - 3 year range, average of 2.625 years)
Cost to Emergency Department of EUC
We will assess average personnel and non-personnel costs to Emergency Department practices of delivering EUC strategies, using Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing
Time frame: Before ED crosses over to SPC condition (1 - 1.75 year range, average of 1.375 years)
Started May 2022 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Jan 2027, 56 months after the start.
Of 281 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Suicidal Ideation, half reached primary completion within 30 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 13 and three quarters within 54. This study's planned 56 months is above that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 290 studies reached it within 29 months; a quarter within 13 and three quarters within 53.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
Eligibility is decided by the study team. Share this record with your doctor or contact the team directly.
No contact was published for this record. The registry link below has the sponsor’s details.
Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.