September is recognized as National Suicide Prevention Month, an opportunity to raise awareness of suicide prevention. In the U.S., suicide is one of the top 10 causes of death and results in one death every 11 minutes each day.

Centene is dedicated to increasing suicide awareness and prevention to help individuals live their lives to their fullest. A recent white paper (PDF) from Centene Advanced Behavioral Health outlines the opportunity and responsibility payers have in leading efforts to reduce suicide and attempts. Recommendations focus on three main areas:

• Supporting healthcare teams through evidence-based strategies and trainings
• Identifying early risks and innovating for improved engagement and intervention
• Advocating for Federal and state policy that enables improved access to, delivery of, and equal coverage of mental health care

The white paper also highlights how Centene’s enterprise-wide program, Choose Tomorrow™, strengthens access to care, collaborates with providers in the delivery of care, and employs technology to identify suicide risk through data analytics, screening, and assessment.

 Open a PDF of the full white paper, titled "Payers as Partners in Suicide Prevention" (PDF)