Job security, falls reduction high on list

The challenges facing healthcare risk managers in the new year are as diverse as the tasks the perform, according to a survey by the ECRI Institute, an independent nonprofit that researches the best approaches to improved patient care.

The Institute today revealed the results of its latest survey of the Healthcare Risk Control System’s members.

The themes that emerge from this year’s list involve:

• Response to federal initiatives (e.g., electronic health record [EHR] implementation, federal "clawback" initiatives, and nonpayment for hospital-acquired conditions)
• Job security (e.g., integration of risk management, quality, and safety; demonstration of risk management value; and decline in risk management resources)
• Ongoing, day-to-day risk management topics (e.g., provider communication, disruptive practitioner behavior, event management, and falls reduction)

Risk managers interviewed about the findings agreed that the list is an accurate reflection of industry concerns.

“Day to day, one of these issues floats to the top. These are all the risk issues we deal with in risk management,” says Ellen Hampton, director of risk and safety management at Salem Health in Salem, Oregon. Hampton adds that she finds some support when reading the list. “It’s validating to see that others are dealing with the same concerns that I have.”

“Additionally, if any items are not among a risk manager’s concerns, the list provides an opportunity to reassess priorities,” says Sue Boisvert, senior risk manager at Medical Mutual Insurance Company of Maine in Portland, Maine. “The list helps identify whether something should be on my radar screen.”

For a limited time, the survey results can be downloaded at: www.ecri.org.

About ECRI Institute

ECRI Institute (www.ecri.com)., a nonprofit organization, dedicates itself to bringing the discipline of applied scientific research to healthcare to discover which medical procedures, devices, drugs, and processes are best to enable improved patient care. As pioneers in this science for more than 40 years, ECRI Institute marries experience and independence with the objectivity of evidence-based research. ECRI Institute is designated a Collaborating Center of the World Health Organization and an Evidence-based Practice Center by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. ECRI Institute PSO, listed as a federally certified Patient Safety Organization by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, strives to achieve the highest levels of safety and quality in healthcare by collecting and analyzing patient safety information and sharing lessons learned and best practices.