We thank Dr. Tanay for his interest in our article and agree with him that it is important to protect patients in long-term care facilities. In our article, we asserted that it is inappropriate to single out certain health care providers (whether it is long-term care facilities or psychiatric facilities, the focus of our paper) to be subject to criminal background checks, to the exclusion, for instance, of acute care facilities that treat equally vulnerable populations. We also agree that researchers and policy-makers should identify the best mechanism by which to protect vulnerable patients most effectively.
- American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law