Epidemiological trends in global suicides have been of serious concern in the last decade. The burden of higher expectations in the assessment of suicidal behaviors on mental health professionals is mounting. However, the suicidal risk assessment has many evolving and moving parts, and is one of the most heavily researched fields in psychiatry. Although it is clear from current empirical research that suicide cannot accurately be predicted, the standard of care from regulatory bodies and professional organizations dictates the use of established measures and following consensus guidelines. However, the legal system has different parameters to assess for the deviation from these standards and views it from a different vantage point. Therefore, it is imperative to know these critical multifaceted panoramas of suicide assessment. Considering the gaps within suicide risk assessment tools, we propose that appropriate documentation and thorough treatment planning are key to navigating the complex medicolegal risks. These approaches are useful for risk management and improve clinical outcomes, quality of care, and overall patient safety.

This article outlines a disaster medicine team response to the Texas-Mexico border during a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) surge. The team consisted of emergency medicine attending providers, as well as a nurse practitioner and a physician assistant, who were asked to work in the intensive care unit (ICU) under the guidance of an intensivist. The article highlights the medicolegal and ethical implications of providers working outside of their designated scope of practice. A framework for future staff augmentation during a disaster is explained.

Vocational assessment is the foundation of future vocational choices available to a person with a disability. In a compensable environment with potential for litigation, the assessment process becomes more complex and challenging for claimant, practitioner, and other stakeholders. The purpose of forensic (medicolegal) vocational assessment in Australia is reviewed. Comparison of ethics, qualifications, and experience of Australian forensic assessors (practitioners) and their North American counterparts points to an urgent need for an accreditation framework. This paper discusses microaccreditation as an independent model of training and credentialing of Australian forensic vocational practitioners. Credentialing the forensic vocational practitioner serves to underpin the quality and rigor of vocational assessments undertaken in a highly scrutinized legal market.

Employability assessment was developed to help claims professionals decide total and permanent disability insurance claims, yet it has not been empirically evaluated. This descriptive study sought formative knowledge about employability assessment from claims professionals working in the multibillion-dollar Australian life insurance total and permanent disability market. Claims assessors (n = 53) and technical advisors (n = 51) responded to a nationwide online survey. Participants found employability assessment was cost effective and very useful in deciding claims. Having an objective, realistic, and clear picture of a claimant’s employment prospects was important. Highly rated components of employability assessment included transferable skills analysis; summary of education, training and experience; job match rationale; and labour market analysis with employer contact. Face-to-face claimant interviews were favoured by 56% of participants, particularly when there was legal involvement. Standardised provider training and certification were recommended to improve report quality and withstand scrutiny of the courts. Billing time estimates are higher than extant costs for assessment tasks. More than half (56%) the participants considered rehabilitation counsellors were best qualified to conduct employability assessments. The study findings contribute new knowledge to this emergent field and point to further research into quality and cost of employability assessment, and provider accreditation.