Risk management schemes are critical in healthcare organizations for guaranteeing the security and wellness of patients and staff. Risk management includes recognizing possible dangers and risks, prioritizing them, and adopting mitigation or elimination techniques (Fox et al., 2018). I interviewed the Director of Risk Management at Sunrise Senior Living to learn more about how risk management programs work in healthcare firms. It is a senior care institution that offers a variety of long-term care services. The tactics employed by the organization to recognize and handle risks, as well as the problems they encounter in executing successful risk management programs, were investigated.
Risk Management Strategies Used in the Organization’s Risk Control Program
To begin, Sunrise Senior Living employs a variety of preventive steps to lessen the risk of mishaps or accidents occurring. For example, they do regular safety checks on the premises and machinery, implement fire safety rules, and provide workers with ongoing infection prevention and fall avoidance training and instruction. Second, incident investigation and reporting sets defined policies and procedures for incident reporting and investigation. Moreover, the firm performs regular risk assessments to identify potential dangers and points of improvement (Gul, 2018). For example, they perform fall risk evaluation for each patient and create tailored care strategies to tackle any concerns that are found. Finally, the organization places a premium on collaboration and communication among staff and departments to enable efficient risk control (Laufs & Waseem, 2020). They regularly hold interdisciplinary team meetings, for example, to analyze resident care and detect any possible dangers or problems.
How the Facility’s Program Addresses Key Professional, Legal, and Ethical Issues
Staff is provided with a thorough training and education program that encompasses risk mitigation, ethics, and legal concerns. This program addresses a variety of issues, including resident safety, infection prevention, recordkeeping, and communication. While conducting competency evaluations, the Director highlighted the significance of staff periodic training and teaching on methodologies for patient care and safety to prevent carelessness. In terms of malpractice lawsuits, the institution has in place a mechanism for analyzing incidents and undertaking root-cause investigations to find opportunities for improvement.
They also keep accurate and extensive records of occurrences and corrective activities, that can be utilized in court if warranted. Furthermore, they have liability coverage in place to safeguard the facility and its employees in the occasion of legal action (Cohen, 2020). In terms of contributory negligence, the Director stated that the institution stresses the necessity of adhering to established procedures and guidelines to avoid occurrences and maintain resident safety. They also have a mechanism in place for reporting occurrences and conducting investigations to discover possible liability issues and initiate corrective measures as needed. Generally, the procedures employed to prevent negligence are aimed at reducing liability risks and fostering professional and ethical behavior among employees.
Policies to Manage Emergency Triage in High‐Risk Areas of Health Care Service Delivery
Stated by the Director, the institution has clear protocols and procedures in place for disaster triage in precarious areas like narcotic stockpiles, reported pregnancies, and more. The narcotics inventory policy, for example, sets particular protocols for the storage, distribution, and documentation of narcotic drugs to avoid diversion or exploitation (Fan et al., 2019). Another regulation is the disclosed pregnancy policy, which compels all female employees to notify their supervisor of their pregnancy status as soon as they know of it. In addition, its blood-borne disease sector strategy specifies particular processes for managing and disposing of infectious materials objects such as needles or other sharp objects (Shehzad, 2018). When dealing with these materials, employees must wear proper personal protective equipment (PPE) and get frequent infection control protocol training.
Challenges the Organization Faces in Managing and Controlling High-Risk Health Care
One of the organization’s primary concerns is assuring personnel compliance with the organization’s rules and regulations. They handle this difficulty through continual training and education, audit trails and inspections, and, when necessary, disciplinary penalties. Another problem is managing the hazards connected with infectious diseases, where rigorous infection control methods are implemented to minimize the transmission of infections among patients and personnel (Ramanathan et al., 2020). Furthermore, controlling radiation-based treatments is difficult, therefore they collaborate with doctors and other medical specialists to assure their safe delivery. Notwithstanding the problems of managing risk, the institution handles them through continual education and training, audit trails and inspections, close collaboration with medical specialists, and tight regulations and procedures.
Strategies the Facility Utilizes to Monitor, Evaluate, and Maintain Compliance
One technique, described by the director, is to conduct regular inspections and audits of all parts of the plant to detect potential hazards or areas of noncompliance with existing policies and procedures. Another strategy is to provide staff with regular training and education sessions on a variety of risk management topics, such as infection prevention, medication management, disaster response, and more (Naser & Saleem, 2018). In addition, incident disclosure and investigation are used by the facility to review and assess adherence to its plan. All events and near-misses are referred to the Director of Managing Risks, who investigates each occurrence to uncover any potential areas for improvement. Ultimately, the process of continuous improvement entails a frequent assessment and evaluation of all rules and standards to identify any possible problems and areas for updates or changes.
Assessment of the Organization’s Risk Management Program
As a way of reducing potential risks as well as guarantee the security and wellness of both and employees, the organization has created rules and procedures, instructional programs, and danger control measures. Their instructional program is especially commendable because it incorporates the entire team and focuses on improved ways to deal with compliance or litigation issues. Additionally, the institution employs several techniques to ensure adherence to its risk control strategy, demonstrating its dedication to delivering exceptional care to its patients. Furthermore, the frequent auditing and continual improvement process highlight possible dangers and non-compliance areas to make improvements to prevent future events.
Steps to Improve Organization’s Risk Management Program, along with a Rationale
Since their current system provides ambiguous information, one aspect of the risk mitigation strategy that might be enhanced is the reporting and tracking of events and near-misses. The first step is to create a more complete incident reporting and monitoring system that facilitates the recording and tracking of occurrences and near-misses (Shneiderman,, 2020). Secondly, incident reports are analyzed regularly to find any connections or themes in the occurrences recorded. The patterns are used to identify areas that require extra training or policy reform.
Finally, all staff members will receive ongoing training and instruction on incident analysis and reporting. It covers the documentation of occurrences, the importance of incident reporting and near-misses, and the identification of prospective danger locations. The rationale is that documenting and tracking accidents and near-misses can assist the facility in identifying possible areas of risk, recognizing occurrence patterns, and making required policy and training changes (Cohen et al., 2018). The facility will then display high-quality treatment while protecting itself from legal responsibility in the case of an incident.
Conclusion
The interview offered useful information about the organization’s strategy for risk management. To detect, assess, and reduce risks, the facility employs a variety of measures, including frequent employee education and training, incident analysis and reporting, and compliance monitoring. Despite the difficulties experienced, the facility has created rules to address these difficulties while remaining in line with ethical and legal norms. While the institution’s risk management strategy is solid overall, there is constant room for enhancement, and action actions were proposed to increase incident and near-miss recording and tracking.
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