Healthcare is arguably one of the most important sectors where efficient and effective risk management is needed. Here are a few reasons why it is a crucial aspect of healthcare, and how to implement risk management correctly.
Patient Protection
Firstly, enterprise risk management is crucial for patient protection. Considering the risks sick or injured patients already face, the last thing you want is for patient treatment to include misteps, errors, treatment delays, etc.
At its core, risk management in healthcare exists to give patients the best possible treatment, without errors, as fast as possible.
Legal Exposure
The world of healthcare is filled with legal pitfalls, whether it be a misdiagnosis and therefore incorrect treatment, or a misstep in the treatment phase that leads to a more serious outcome.
Effective risk management ensures that the hospital and medical staff take the right steps when performing a diagnosis or treatment to avoid any potential lawsuits, ensure documented accuracy, etc.
Prevents Financial Loss
Building on the last point, litigation and lawsuits can cost a hospital or institution a lot of money, with the settlement of individual cases ranging in the millions. A risk management strategy will not only avoid this, but also avoid the mistake that led to the lawsuit to begin with.
The reputation of the hospital or medical care provider is also vital, and stopping negative press or “bad reviews” can also help you save money.
Protects the Organization
When you lower or eliminate the risk from your business, or you are able to deal with risk in a quick and effective manner, you also protect the organization. Medical care providers with a history of mistakes, at the very least, end up on the other side of expensive lawsuits, and at worst, criminal proceedings.
Regulatory Compliance
Medical care providers are highly regulated, and are also audited often. Not being compliant with regulations can lead to massive fines, and even the potential of regulators shutting down the facility completely.
Risk management ensures your facility, medical professionals, etc., are all compliant and do not break any regulations. It also allows you to stay on top of any changes or new laws and ensure you don’t break a law you may not have been aware of.
Improved Decision-Making
A proper risk management plan will include analysing data of near misses, mistakes, past errors, etc. When you analyse this data, you are able to see where your weaknesses are and where you can improve, which will lead to better and more informed decision-making.
Better decisions can help you make the healthcare and services you provide more consistent and effective, and serve your patients better.
Emergency Preparedness
Whether it be a pandemic, natural disaster, or a major data breach, being prepared for a severe emergency or event is a must. While the cause of these things is out of your control, how you prepare for them and deal with them is.
It is essential to have a plan in place in the event of an emergency, such as how you will deal with an influx of patients, supply shortages, etc. While disruption is almost unavoidable, minimizing it as much as possible should be a top priority.
Promotes Accountability
An effective risk management plan promotes a culture of accountability, which is a pillar in healthcare. A culture of accountability encourages thorough and fast incident reporting, communication, etc.
The goal here is to eliminate the concept of blame and shift it towards problem-solving. Staff training and continuous improvements lead to further accountability and will minimize the chance of a severe mistake.
Operational Efficiency
When you eliminate mistakes, missteps, and inefficiencies, you end up with better efficiency all-round. When you are fast and effective with diagnosing and treating patients, you are able to get them out the door healthy, and continue to help others.
Data Protection & Privacy
In this day and age, data threats are not only at an all-time high, but are also becoming harder to prevent. Healthcare providers have a legal obligation to protect the information of their patients, and a breach can lead to massive lawsuits.
Part of your risk management strategy should include having a robust cybersecurity framework in place that is up-to-date, upgraded when needed, etc. Whether you are a small-town dentist, or a massive city-center hospital, data protection should be right near the top of your priority list.
Staff Morale
Having positive, upbeat staff is a must when providing healthcare, and when your staff know they are protected and that there is little risk of making a career-defining mistake, their morale goes up, which benefits your patients and healthcare facility as a whole.
The last thing you want is employees who are always on edge, nervous, or scared, as this will lead to more mistakes or missteps that could have been avoided.
In conclusion, an effective risk management strategy is essential for all types of healthcare providers, big and small. Whether you have one in place already or not, hiring a professional to create or audit one will do nothing but benefit you, your employees, and most importantly, your patients.
