Risk Management in Healthcare Essay Paper
Identifying a strategic plan issue is an important first step in creating a strategic plan, but if there isn’t already a clear issue to be addressed, how can you determine what may make a meaningful impact on a community or organization? The answer is to consider the mission and/or vision of the organization, and then continue to ask questions until you arrive at an issue you feel confident will improve the organization in some way. Investigate to see if there is a particular segment of the organization that is underperforming or is not effectively meeting the needs of the population it is designed to meet.
Are there notable organizational achievements, successes, or failures that could be built upon or addressed? How are current and future trends in the industry likely to affect the organization? What strategic steps can be taken so that the organization is most likely to be successful in achieving the changes? Although it may initially feel like there are more questions than answers, delving into the current state of an organization will aid you in selecting a meaningful strategic issue.
For this Discussion, you will select and provide a summary of the strategic plan issue you wish to use for your Strategic Plan. Risk Management in Healthcare Essay Paper You will have the opportunity to receive peer feedback before officially submitting your Strategic Plan issue for instructor approval in this week’s Assignment due on Day 7 of Week 2.
Note: Please try to submit your initial and response posts early this week to allow time to submit your Assignment by Day 7.
To Prepare:
Consider any feedback you received from your Instructor and colleagues during this week’s Discussion.
If appropriate, refine your focus to clarify the strategic plan issue. Conduct additional research as necessary to support your proposed plan.
Use the Strategic Plan Issue Template, provided in this week’s Learning Resources, to draft your Assignment.
Risk Management as a Strategic Plan Issue of Importance in Healthcare
Risk management is one of the most important strategic plan issues that a healthcare organization needs to consider. This involves putting measures that will help the organization prevent occurrences such as errors in patient care (by the workforce) and injury to patients and staff. These could lead to litigation and huge financial settlements that eat into the organization’s profits, apart from making it lose patients to competitors (Alam, 2016). Historically, risk management began in the 1970s in the United States when courts started ruling on vicarious or corporate liability by healthcare organizations (Singh & Ghatala, 2012).
There is enough evidence from literature that points to the importance of risk management as a strategic plan issue. Singh and Ghatala (2012) write about malpractice claims against hospitals and the importance of having risk management committees. Bunting Jr. and Groszkruger (2016) examine the role of human error in risk management while Delcea and Ioana-Alexandra (2016) explore the use of Grey Systems Theory in helping entrench risk management in a hospital. Many organizations have in the past attempted to strategically plan for the probability or occurrence of risks such as liability, loss, injury, or damage (Alam, 2016) in hospitals and other healthcare organizations.
The stakeholders that need to be included in the strategic planning process are directors, management at all levels, employees, suppliers, creditors, and patients. It is important to factor in the views and input of all these categories of stakeholders. The steps used to identify risk management as a strategic plan issue were first a review of all the incidents, court cases, and settlements involving the hospital within a period of five years followed by data analysis. The financial implications of risk management for the organization include paying settlement for malpractice claims. This is why it is important to strategically plan for risk in healthcare. It will add value by saving the organization money.
References
Alam, A.Y. (2016). Steps in the process of risk management in healthcare. Journal of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, 2(2), 1-5. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308888285_Steps_in_the_Process_of_Risk_Management_in_Healthcare
Bunting Jr, R.F., & Groszkruger, D.P. (2016). From To Err Is Human to Improving Diagnosis in Health Care: The risk management perspective. Journal of Healthcare Risk Management, 35(3), 10-23. Doi: 10.1002/jhrm
Delcea, C., & Ioana-Alexandra, B. (2016). Fostering risk management in healthcare units using grey systems theory. Grey Systems: Theory and Application, 6(2), 216-232. Doi: 10.1108/GS-12-2015-0078
Singh, B., & Ghatala, M.H. (2012). Risk management in hospitals. International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology, 3(4), 417-421.
Risk Management in Healthcare Essay Paper