Health Facility Risk Management for Beginners

Resources exist to aid hospital risk managers in the development of risk management plans

The purpose of a health facility risk management plan is to assess potential risks to the safety and well being of staff, patients, or visitors, identify what measures a facility can take to reduce or eliminate those risks, implement those measures into the operations of the facility, provide safety training to staff and continually monitor the risk management program. Risk management plans are important to the operation of a healthcare facility because an effective plan not only provides a safe environment for staff, patients, and visitors, but it also reduces workers compensation claims and lawsuits due to falls and other personal injury.

Resources available to help complete a healthcare risk management plan include:

1. Manuals providing instruction on completing a hospital risk management plan

2. Hospital risk management consultants

3. Healthcare risk management seminars or conferences

 

Reference a manual providing instruction on completing a hospital risk management plan.

A healthcare risk management plan examines and identifies those procedures and aspects of the physical environment that have the potential to harm staff, patients or guests and take measures to reduce or eliminate the possibility of harm occurring. An important component of a successful healthcare facilities risk management plan is training to educate staff on safety procedures, location of spill response kits and general housekeeping procedures to help avoid falls in the workplace. Hospital risk managers taking the time to implement the various components of a hospital risk management plan can help ensure a safe environment for all and in turn reduce the amount of money spent on worker's compensation claims and lawsuits due to personal injury.
Try: Those new to the field will benefit by referring to manuals such as Risk Management Handbook for Health Care Organizations or Risk Management in Health Care Institutions: A Strategic Approach to assist the medical risk management team develop a risk management plan for the facility.

Contract with a hospital risk management consultant for help with program development

Risk management consultants can offer a great deal of experience to organizations in health facility risk management. Because they are knowledgeable on important issues in risk management for healthcare, they can be an invaluable resource for those who are new to the field.. Risk management consultants inspect the facility to ensure the hospital staff has appropriate protective devices and equipment to protect them when performing procedures, ensure all areas are clean, free from litter and unnecessary equipment and that mopped hallways have floor signs indicating the hazard.
Try: American International Group (AIG) and AON are healthcare risk management consultants whose services will help you develop an effective risk management plan for your healthcare facility.

Attend a healthcare risk management seminar or conference

Seminars and conferences are an effective way to learn how to assess, plan, develop, implement and monitor your health facility risk management. For beginners, individuals learn firsthand the basics of performing assessments, plan development, creating teamwork as part of the risk management plans implementation and, perhaps most important, mistakes others have made and what they have learned from them. In addition, seminars and conferences also keep hospital risk managers abreast of important risk management issues for healthcare.
Try: Safety Logic Systems and Professional Risk Management Services offer seminars that hospital risk managers may participate in as part of their facilities risk management program.

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