Risk Management: Phase I

In this phase of the program, Princeton’s healthcare risk consultants coordinate with the hospital risk managers to conduct a self-assessment of their risk management and patient safety programs. This includes an in-depth analysis of internal processes such as claims management, liability prevention/reduction and operations. The self-assessment tool is presented to the hospital risk managers for their completion. Once returned, our consultants review and analyze the responses. Feedback and a full written report with recommendations are then provided to the facility risk manager and the CEO.

The primary objective of this phase is to enable facilities to perform a thorough evaluation of their own risk management and patient safety programs through the use of one comprehensive tool. Our consultants are then able to assist them in areas that can be improved.

The Phase I assessment touches upon the following issues:

• Policies and procedures that are in any way related to risk management concerns
• Informed Consent, Do Not Resuscitate, and other clinical policies that involve legal issues
• Early Warning Systems and Operational Linkages that should exist between various facility departments
• Committee structure, level of risk management involvement and information exchanged
• Committees at hospital – recommend whether the risk manager should be involved in some committees
• Patient Safety issues – information derived from numerous resources, including the National Patient Safety Foundation, the JCAHO National Patient Safety Goals, and AHRQ (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality).
• Performance improvement programs

Phase II