The healthcare industry is one in which risks are ever-present. Consequently, players in the healthcare industry must prioritize effective risk management strategies to tackle emanating risks as well as minimize the effects of these risks. Primarily, through appropriate risk management strategies, health care facilities are better placed to enhance patient safety and reduce the occurrence of medical errors that usually hinder the achievement of set objectives. Additionally, the absence of effective risk management strategies in health care may result in litigations and thereby exposing health care facilities to preventable financial liabilities. In health care, Enterprise risk management (ERM) is essential in promoting a broad framework upon which decisions in risk management can be arrived at to maximize value protection (Puchley&Toppi, 2018). Besides, ERM also provides an avenue through which health care is comprehensively safeguarded as opposed to the traditional piecemeal approaches to risk management, which offer limited benefits.
I work at a community-based health care facility where risk management has been prioritized. In this facility, it is appreciated that effective risk management requires collective responsibility and effort from all the stakeholders. The risk management function in this facility is headed by the quality assurance manager, who is tasked with the oversight and formulation of risk prevention and mitigating strategies. Through these functions, the quality assurance manager is tasked with the prevention of risks that may be detrimental to the safety of patients as well as the healthcare facilities employees. In this paper, the risk management initiatives by this organization are evaluated. The evaluation of the organization’s risk management strategies is based on the information collected from interview sessions with the quality assurance head, employees currently in charge of risk management at the facility, and some health care professionals working at the facility. During the interviews, several questions were posed to the participants, and the responses offered were used to deduce the effectiveness and challenges faced by the organization in risk management.
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During the interview, one of the questions concerned the challenges faced by the organization in the control of infectious diseases. In response, the quality assurance manager stated that the facility had difficulties in controlling infections. According to the head of quality assurance, handling of elderly patients, and preventing them from exposure to infections was a key concern for the organization. Primarily, this response and the challenge therein are in line with numerous empirical studies that have illuminated the heightened risk among elderly patients to infections in health care settings and within the community. One of the factors that have been noted as being causative for the increased susceptibility of the elderly to being infected is their decreased bodily immunity.
Concerning the susceptibility of the elderly to community infections, some of the respondents pointed at antibiotic resistance among the elderly resulting from the indiscriminate and unregulated intake of drugs (Spath, 2017). During the interview, the health care professionals at this facility also indicated the wide variety of medications prescribed to elderly patients’ causes the destabilization of their internal microbial environment that leads to their increased risks to infections (Hollnagel et al., 2014). In totality, the forename factors make it challenging for the organization to control diseases within the community effectively.
Concerning the organization’s risk management strategies, the head of quality assurance stated that the organization had put an infection control program in place to scale down the infection rates. According to the administrator of quality assurance, some of the strategies employed in this program include environmental hygiene, hand washing promotions, and enhanced community surveillance. From the interviews, it emerged that the organization’s hand washing promotions and strategies are in line with the recommended hand washing procedures that include the use of soap and running water, rinsing of hands, and the use of single towels in hand drying (Ataee et al., 2017).
To effectively reduce infection levels with the community, health care professionals in this organization apply the hand washing protocols religiously before and after contact with patients. The hand washing procedures are also used before and after healthcare professionals handle patients’ secretions, including saliva, patients’ body fluids, and blood (Ataee et al., 2017). As part of its strategy to control infections, this organization ensures that all surfaces within its facility are thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. Lastly, this organization also ensures the proper disposal of waste as part of its environmental hygiene promotion (Balbir&Ghatala, 2012).
There are various policies applied by the organization to manage emergency triage. Some of these policies include the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA). Under the EMLATA policy, the organization is required to offer care to all patients without discrimination (Zuabi et al., 2016). It should be noted that the organization’s obligations under this policy usually present challenges relating to patient settings and the confirmation of patients’ emergency clinical conditions as outlined in the EMTALA.
During the interview, the extent to which the organization’s educational risk management program addresses ethical and legal professional issues inclusive of vicarious liability, litigation, and professional negligence was also evaluated. The participants’ responses emerged that the organization’s educational risk management program addresses the issues mentioned above in several ways. Firstly, this program works to emphasize the need for health care professionals to observe the code of conduct. Besides, this education program also incorporates frequent training programs for health care professionals concerning standard operating procedures aimed at reducing the occurrence of medical errors and other adverse events that compromise patient safety. The educational program also illuminates the health care professionals the litigation risks that emanate from professional negligence, and this enhances the quality of care offered by the organization (Pozgar, 2014).
One of the strategies utilized by this organization in the maintenance and monitoring of risk management is the frequent use of external agencies to review the procedures and their implementation by the organization. Incorporating external agencies is beneficial in this case as it enables the organization’s programs to be evaluated against patient and staff safety standards established by reputable regulatory bodies. Additionally, this organization also applied recommendations set forth by international standards safety guidelines as a datum for evaluating its risk management program. Lastly, this organization utilizes an established code of ethics to guide the implementation of the risk management program.
The interview gave insights into the risk management program employed in the organization. The risk management program and the measures implemented by the organization are practical and appropriate in addressing the challenge of infections faced by the organization. Implementing strategies that are in line with internationally recognized regulations is one of the strengths of the organization’s current risk management program. On the downside, the educational strategy employed at the organization does not take into account other stakeholders inclusive of patients and their families.
References
Ataee, R. A., Ataee, M. H., Tavana, A. M., &Salesi, M. (2017). Bacteriological aspects of hand washing: A key for health promotion and infections control. International Journal of Preventive Medicine , 8 (1) , 16.https://doi.org/10.4103/2008-7802.201923.
Balbir , S., & Ghatala , H.(2012). Risk management in hospitals. International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology, 3(4): 417- 421.
Hollnagel, E., Braithwaite, J, & Wears, R. (2014). Resilient health care. Surrey, England: Ashgate.
Pozgar, G. D. (2014). Legal and ethical essentials of health care administration (2nd edition) . Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Puchley, T., &Toppi, C. (2018). ERM: evolving from risk assessment to strategic risk management: Changes in the healthcare system are bringing new risks, which hospitals and health systems need to manage effectively to remain competitive. Healthcare Financial Management , 72 (4), 44-50.
Spath, P. (2017). Applying quality management in healthcare: A systems approach (4th edition).Health Administration Press
Zuabi, N., Weiss, L. D., &Langdorf, M. I. (2016). Emergency medical treatment and labor act (EMTALA) 2002-15: Review of office of inspector general patient dumping settlements. The Western Journal of Emergency Medicine , 17 (3), 245–251. https://doi.org/10.5811/westjem.2016.3.29705
