Risk Management in Health Care

There are five steps in the risk management process: risk identification, risk analysis, risk control/treatment, implementation, and monitoring the results. The process helps identify potential risks for accidental loss, examine and implement the best risk management techniques, and monitor those techniques for effectiveness. Risk management helps maintain the reputation and objectives of the organization as well as reduce financial loss.

Quality management in risk management helps protect the patient, staff, and hospital.   Quality risk management helps the facility identify red flags in patient care that need to be improved on. Quality management in risk management provides the patient with a sense of comfort knowing quality patient care is a priority for the organization; therefore,   giving the facility a competitive edge over other facilities.

JCAHO was formed by many healthcare organizations to ensure hospitals followed the standards of practices and quality care. The accreditation standards went into effect January 1, 1989. Some standards an applicable institution must show compliance with several standards to attain accreditation. According to the text, one standard is a hospital’s governing body must provide resources and support for the quality assurance and risk management functions related to patient care and safety. (p. 13)

I think workplace safety is one that I come across often at work. We are told from the beginning to be mindful of any potential hazards that may result in an accident such as exposed wires and electrical cords not properly tucked away. The liability for transfer of contaminated property has been a recent change in our practices. The Medical Waste Tracking Act was passed in 1988 and we recently implemented new practices for discarding medications 20 years after the fact. We now have colored bins and each drug has a specification on what color bin to throw it in.

According to the the text, the risk management committee’s...