Date
of Last Review 10/13/08
SME: Director of Social Services
Not all treatment settings are appropriate for all patients. As a patient's
condition changes it is in his/her best interest to provide appropriate changes
in the treatment setting.
The physician decides one of the following regarding an inpatient in commitment status:
 | Terminate the commitment and discharge the patient |
| Modify the commitment to outpatient and discharge |
| Terminate the commitment and allow the patient to sign-in voluntarily |
| Apply for a new commitment. |
The following are the criteria for court-ordered services (commitment):
| The person is mentally ill. |
| As result of the mental illness, the patient meets at least one of the following additional criteria: |
 | Is likely to cause serious harm to him/herself. |
| Is likely to cause serious harm to others |
| If not treated, continues to suffer severe abnormal mental, emotional, or physical distress |
| Continues to experience deterioration of his/her ability to function independently and is unable to make a rational and informed decision as to whether or not to submit to treatment |
If the patient does not meet the commitment criteria, yet has received maximum benefit from hospitalization, the physician can terminate the commitment to court-ordered mental health services and refers the patient to other services in the community.
This table describes the process of terminating a patient from the commitment to court-ordered mental health services:
Stage |
Description |
1 |
The attending physician completes a Certificate of Termination of Court-Ordered Inpatient Mental Health Services certificate. |
2 |
The head nurse/nursing supervisor or designee signs this certificate. |
3 |
The MHMRA legal coordinator files the original copy with the court. |
4 |
The UTHCPC nurse responsible for discharge puts the yellow copy of the certificate in the medical record and gives the pink copy to the patient. |
5 |
The discharge staff releases the patient. |
A patient who has been committed to UTHCPC and who has received maximum benefit as an inpatient may be discharged on a commitment modification.
The following table describes the modification process:
Stage |
Person Responsible |
Description | ||||||
1 |
The unit Social Service clinician |
| ||||||
2 |
The physician |
| ||||||
3 |
The MHMRA legal coordinator |
| ||||||
4 |
UTHCPC nurse responsible for discharge |
|
The physician can terminate the commitment and patient signs the UTHCPC Consent for Admission voluntarily in the following situation:
| If the attending physician determines that the patient no longer meets the criteria for temporary court-ordered mental health services |
| If the committed patient requires continued inpatient care |
If an involuntary patient nears the end of the inpatient commitment and the physician determines that the patient requires further inpatient care, s/he terminates the current commitment and applies for a new commitment.
Certificate of Medical Examination - Modification to Outpatient
Application for Modification from Inpatient to Outpatient form
Related to regulatory standards
If you have questions regarding the content of this site please contact the Policy and Procedure Committee. If you experience any technical problems please contact the MIS Department.
