Running head: RISK MANAGEMENT
Risk Management 5
Risk Management
Grand Canyon University
HLT 308
Interviewed Employee: Risk Officer
The risk officer is responsible for identifying risks and developing solutions to the potential risks. They also implement preventive measures that are intended to prevent risks or minimize the impact.
Risk Management Strategies
New Life Hospital uses two major strategies to deal with risk. One of the strategies is risk avoidance. This is a risk management strategy whereby an organization refrains from taking an action that would create a potential risk (Caroll, 2009). For instance, some chemicals and solutions are dangerous to handle. The hospital does not use such chemicals in its laboratories. This is a strategy used to avoid risk. The second strategy is risk reduction. This is a risk management strategy that reduces the impact of a risk when it occurs. For example, the organization has fire extinguishers on standby. In case a fire breaks out, the fire extinguishers can be used to contain the fire and reduce the possible loss. Organizations need to use a combination of strategies to manage risk.
Educational Risk Management Program
Education risk management programs are intended to impart knowledge to people so that they do the right thing and avoid risky situations. In the case of New Life Hospital, one of the educational risk management programs is a workshop. The healthcare organization holds periodic workshops on different matters that enlighten the workforce. For instance, employees are usually taught how to act responsibly and ethically. This is a risk management program that enables the facility to minimize the chances of negligent behavior or unethical practices within its workforce. From time to time, employees are reminded of best practices. This is a move that reduces the chances of possible legal issues that the facility might be involved with.
Managing Emergency Triage in High-Risk Areas
The facility understands that some situations are high-risk. For this reason, policies have been put in place to prioritize such areas. For instance, pregnancy is considered a high-risk matter and it is given priority over everything else. Handling a pregnant woman is an attempt to save two lives at the same time. Policies have been put in place to make sure the pregnancy department is always equipped to capacity to make sure any emergency cases are handled as soon as possible. Having a fully equipped facility helps in dealing with risky situations. This helps in reducing and eliminating possible disasters.
Challenges in Managing High-Risk Health Care
High-risk healthcare is expensive to manage because of the resources involved. One of the greatest challenges New Life Hospital faces is insufficient resources. Health care issues such as infectious diseases require many resources to handle. For example, when COVID-19 struck, the facility was not prepared. The diseases needed many resources that the hospital could not afford. There was a need for separate wards for COVID-19 patients, and a large quantity of personal protective equipment was also needed, in addition to this, oxygen tanks and life support machines were also required. It is challenging for the hospital to meet extensive needs if it has limited resources (Hopkin, 2013).
Monitoring and Maintaining the Risk Management Program
New Life Hospital understands that the environment is changing. The health sector is so dynamic and this calls for adjusting strategies to keep up with the changes. The risk management team constantly analyzes the environment and makes frequent changes to make sure the program is effective. The program is monitored and evaluated to see the extent to which it meets its expectations. As aforementioned, changes are made from time to time to make sure the program is relevant and it complies with requirements as far as risk management is concerned. Risk officers must ensure risk management programs achieve their objectives.
Assessment of the Organization’s Risk Management Program
The performance of the risk management program is essential to the overall performance of an organization (Boyle, 2019). For this reason, risk officers have a duty of ensuring that the risk management program is effective. The program for New Life Hospital is effective in the sense that it achieves its objective. It has enabled the organization to manage its risks through avoidance and reduction. High-risk health care is usually given priority by proving the needed resources. This enables the organization to invest effectively in the right projects to ensure risk is managed. For instance, resources are channeled toward the infectious disease unit so that such diseases are effectively handled. In handling legal concerns, the organization has a legal team that provides all legal advice and consultation services. This helps in avoiding legal risks by doing what the law requires.
Improving the Organization’s Risk Management Program
Most sectors of the risk management program for New Life Hospital are effective, however, improvements are welcome. One of the areas that need improvement is the infectious diseases unit. The organization needs to put more resources in this area given the impact that it can have. The outbreak of COVID-19 created a scenario that revealed that most organizations are not prepared to handle such cases. New Life Hospital should equip its infectious disease unit as this will enable it to effectively deal with potential risks in the area. Once an organization identifies areas that need improvement, action should be taken to make sure the area is enhanced so that better services are provided.
References
Boyle, T. (2019). Health and Safety: Risk Management. Milton Park: Taylor and Francis.
Caroll, R. (2009). Risk Management Handbook for Healthcare Organizations. Hoboken: Wiley.
Hopkin, P. (2013). Risk Management. London: Kogan Page.
