Practice Management Alert

Your practice may hold the key to helping people who are victims to human trafficking.

You may have heard about hair stylists serving as de facto social workers, becoming confidants for women in abusive relationships or situations, but did you know that your practice could have a similar role in screening for emergency situations?

According to recent and established research, victims of sex trafficking or labor trafficking almost always see some kind of healthcare provider while they’re immersed in a trafficking situation. With awareness and training, your practice could be the break in the chain of trafficking that helps a victim leave a terrible situation.

Look to Training

Increasing awareness within your staff is a great first step in screening patients who may be in abusive situations or victims of sex trafficking, and then getting them the help they need. Your office doesn’t need any special equipment or much investment other than incorporating employee training and making sure employees stay aware of what to look for and which questions to ask.

Even if your practice is a specialty practice and serves mostly a particular, committed patient population, you won’t be amiss in incorporating training and awareness about the signs and symptoms of trafficking.

A majority of trafficking victims are seen by a healthcare practitioner while being trafficked.

“Despite their abusive situations, most survivors did receive medical treatment at some point during their trafficking. Of those who answered the questions about their contact with healthcare (N=98), 87.8% had contact with a healthcare provider while they were being trafficked. By far the most frequently reported treatment site was a hospital/emergency room,

with 63.3% being treated at such a facility,” say authors Laura J. Lederer, who was, at the time, president at Global Centurion; subject matter expert, U.S. Department of Defense; Adjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown Law Center; Senior Advisor on Trafficking, Office of Global Affairs, U.S. Department of State; and Christopher A. Wetzel, who was a PhD candidate at University of Virginia; who together wrote “The Health Consequences of Sex Trafficking and Their Implications for Identifying Victims in Healthcare Facilities.”

This article was published in the Winter 2014 issue of “Annals of Health Law,” a publication put out by the Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

“Survivors also had significant contact with clinical treatment facilities, most commonly Planned Parenthood clinics, which more than a quarter of survivors (29.6%) visited. More than half (57.1%) of respondents had received treatment at some type of clinic (urgent care, women’s health, neighborhood, or Planned Parenthood),” they say.

The National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) has trainings and tips formulated especially for healthcare workers. Look for a combination or cumulation of the following red flags and indictors if you’re concerned that a particular patient may be a victim of labor or sex trafficking. Note that many of these signs to look out for are behavioral, and a patient who may present as “difficult” to work with, hostile, or confused may actually be a victim.

The following table is a resource provided by the NHTRC through a grant made available by the Office on Trafficking in Persons, Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Understand Your Responsibilities if You Encounter Trafficking Victims

If you have reason to suspect that a patient is currently in a sex or labor trafficking situation, call the 24/7 NHTRC hotline (1-888-373-7888), preferably while the patient is still in your office. Whomever you speak with on the hotline can help you or your team member assess the level of potential danger, and therefore how you should respond.

Appropriate potential responses include contacting a social worker or other advocate or social services or contacting law enforcement. The NHTRC says it can help providers like you assess the risks involved and determine who to call for more assistance, including which branch of law enforcement.

Note: It’s especially important to try to make these phone calls immediately and discreetly if you have reason to suspect that your patient is currently in a trafficking situation and/or that you may not see the patient again once she leaves the office.

If you have reason to believe that you will see this patient again and the NHTRC assistance you receive helps you determine that there is little immediate danger, you can refer your patient to local services. NHTRC notes that it may not have every single local social service provider in its national database — or accessible by its staff. If this situation arises, your practice can take the lead in establishing those policies and protocols, along with a succinct, updated list of helpful contact information.