Ohio bill aims to set standards for healthcare workers who suspect domestic violence

Ohio could soon require health care facilities to enact new standards for professionals treating patients who they believe are facing intimate partner violence (Source: “New domestic violence health care standards under recent Ohio bill,” Statehouse News Bureau, Nov. 4).
 
Reps. Dontavius Jarrells (D-Columbus) and Josh Williams (R-Sylvania Twp.) introduced House Bill 566, what they call the Break the Silence Act, this week.
 
HB 566 creates new mandatory standards of care in an instance of likely domestic violence. Among them, practitioners would have to conduct private interviews — with both the patient and then with any family or household member with them — and document possible abuse-related injuries to add to the patient’s medical records.
 
According to the most recent annual fatality report by Ohio Domestic Violence Network, the state recorded a 37% increase in domestic violence homicides year-over-year. Thirty-six of the state’s 88 counties were touched by domestic violence deaths, with Franklin and Cuyahoga Counties leading the report.