Risk Management (Research Paper) (Research Paper Sample)

Risk Management
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Risk Management
Risk Management Plan for Walsh Hospital
Stakeholder Analysis
1 The Administrative Board
The Board, leadership staff, and medical staff work to establish, maintain, and support a comprehensive, incorporated program. They seek to establish effective mechanisms for assessing and suitably responding to risk-related findings.
2 The Quality and Patient Safety Council
The Quality and Patient Safety Council consists of members of the Board of Directors, medical staff, and administration. The council agenda supports ongoing direction, coordination, and evaluation of the risk management and patient safety program. The agenda includes physician and non-physician activities related to the reduction of morbidity and mortality and improvement of patient safety. The council performs the following roles:
* Oversee occurrence reporting and patient complaint reporting on an aggregate basis, and review all high alert incidents and claims
* Coordinate all quality, risk, and patient safety programs in the organization
* Cooperate with the Medical Staff Credentialing Committee in resolving multidisciplinary problems in patient care delivery
* Receive reports and act on recommendations from the risk management and patient safety department, and at least the following sources: infection control, environmental safety, patient relations, utilization review/case management, and quality improvement
* Report on all activities to the Board Quality Committee
3 Chief Risk Officer
The chief risk officer safety director coordinates the implementation of the Risk Management and Patient Safety Plan under the supervision of the Board of Directors.
The roles of the Chief Risk Officer include:
* Risk identification and Analysis
* Risk monitoring and evaluation
Success factors
Proper communication with patients on safety
It is the policy of Walsh Hospital to maintain openness and integrity in its organizational setting. In consistent with this policy, the hospital finds it prudent to disclose adverse events, errors, or unexpected outcomes that could affect a patient’s emotional or physical health. In such cases, the risk manager, senior physician(s), and the provider team debrief with each other and agree on an effective response that openly informs the patient, safeguards her or his well-being, and is conducive to facility and provider interests.
Staff Training
Patient safety and risk management education is provided on specified topics to physicians, patient care staff, and managers at the time of orientation and regularly thereafter. Educational topics shall include, but not be limited to the following:
* Patient rights
* Etiology and effects of medical error, accidents, omission, and delays
* Chain of command policy and delegation of duties
* Occurrence reporting
* Structured and team-based communication
* Medical record documentation, confidentiality, and informed consent
* Medical equipment management, environmental safety and security
* Value of evidence-based practice guidelines and standardized procedures
* Principles of performance improvement
* Patient relations and complaint management
Risk Evaluation
Sources of risk data in the organization include:
* New service-line risk evaluation
* Drug utilization and new drug review
* Infection control and environmental surveillance
* Walking risk and patient safety rounds
* Educational clinical case conferences
* Concurrent, criteria-based clinical case review
* Risk and quality indicator monitoring and audits
* Occurrences, incidents, adverse events, complications, and claims
* High-risk clinical presentation assessment
* Patient complaints
* Patient satisfaction surveys
* Incident investigation and root cause analysis
The risk management program encourages risk identification through a systematic occurrence reporting process, along with other proactive and collaborative procedures. All staff is required to complete an occurrence report when an event or situation occurs that is not consistent with the routine operation and procedure of the facility, the routine care of a patient or visitor, or routine activities of an employee or volunteer. Reporting expectations also include situations that do not result in injury and may instead become an averted error or "near miss.”
The risk management and patient safety department conducts an initial review of all occurrences, assigns a severity level, responds immediately as needed, and completes follow-up action plans with managers and directors as appropriate. All occurrences are trended, analyzed, and reported at least quarterly to appropriate committees in order to improve the safety and quality of care and reduce risk-related morbidity and mortality. Strategies for loss prevention and loss reduction are integrated into the organization’s performance improvement processes in a manner consistent with the hospital’s vision, and mission.
Action Plan
Proactive Risk Interventions and Treatment by Chief Risk Officer should be conducted regularly. The actions involve:
* Obtaining insurance coverage and risk financing as assigned
* Contract review as assigned
* Management of risk and patient safety data
* Providing staff education on early identification and control of patient safety issues
* Facilitating risk surveys and assessments of various clinical service units
* Referring complex patient safety issues to the performance improvement coordinator, and directly participating in improvement projects
* Assuring provider compliance with redesigned procedures and clinical protocols
* Facilitating regulatory compliance, including review of policies and procedures, implementation of National Patient Safety Goals, other safety standards, governmental laws and regulations
* Providing risk consultation to all organizational levels, and to committees
For successful implementation of risk prevention and p...