Doing a risk management assessment of your operations will allow you to spot potential hazards, make your practice safer, boost patient satisfaction and reduce expenses.
The thought of a risk management assessment will cause some to call in the experts to do it for them, while others might want to try to do it internally. In many cases, the do-it- yourself approach can save money, but one notable exception is in reviewing your office infrastructure for potential malpractice risks. Although outside reviewers may be more objective than self-reviewers, many small practices cannot afford to spend $150 per hour for the experts.
A key factor in risk assessment is that even routine procedures and systems can put a medical practice at risk. And, once you have identified specific risks, including patient safety, you need to implement the programs that will eliminate the risk.
Self-reviewers may want to access the Medical Group Management Association's free Physician Practice Safety Assessment Form at www.physiciansafetytool.org For a $200 fee, the MGMA Center for Research will review your data and give you a workbook on how to interpret the results. The Center's review will also include an indication of how your practice compares with others and a list of resources on addressing patient safety issues.
Here are some of the risk factors from various segments of the assessment survey:
- Medications. Is there a procedure for routine checking of medication expiration dates and discarding of outdated medications?
- Handoff & Transition. Do patients have easy access to consultative, laboratory, imaging and others results, and are they educated on how to obtain this information?
- Surgery/anesthesia/sedation/invasive procedures. Is the site of any surgical/invasive procedure confirmed and documented by two staff members and the patient before the procedure is begun?
- Personnel. Does the practice have a policy to periodically assess nursing and support staff competency for their required services and procedures?
- Management. Is there a system for reporting errors and incident reports that is supported by a culture of safety allowing opening collection and sharing of data within the practice?
- Communication. Are patients requested to repeat back information provided to them by the clinician?
Before beginning an assessment, it would be prudent to contact your medical malpractice insurance agent or carrier to find out what tools and resources they might have available to assist your efforts.
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