How to Create a Risk Management Plan

Running Head: RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN
RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN
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Author’s Note

1RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN
Every healthcare organizations have their risk management plans to remove the risk and
threats of any potential hazards that can occur in a medical setting. It includes the administrative
and clinical systems, reports and processes that is utilized for detecting, monitoring, assessing,
mitigating, and preventing risks. Risk management plans guarantees patient safety and
safeguarding of the organization’s assets and brand value, which is necessary for any
organization (World Health Organization, 2017).
The importance of risk management plans in a healthcare organization is that it focuses
on patient safety, which is an essential component required in an organization. It helps in
reducing medical errors that constituents to destructing the organization’s ability to achieve their
mission and vision that will protect them against any financial liabilities. More importantly, it
creates an occupational health and safety management plan for any emergencies or hazards that
is a potential risk to the wellbeing of patients or the staff in the healthcare organizations. It also
creates awareness amongst the employees, cleaners, contractors, public and the visitors.
Hospitals have been consistently using the risk management plans so that they can promote
patient safety and prevent legal issues in situations where there are serious threats to the health of
the patient or the entire healthcare ecosystem (NEJM Catalyst, 2018).
The elements needed in a risk management plan is establishing the context, identifying
risks, analyzing risks, evaluating risks and managing the risk. These 5 steps are equally
important for the initiation of this plan because all of them are required to systematically access
and reduce the chances of any life threatening risks. Establishing context is determining the
fields it is required for. High priority areas for the risk management plans are intensive care units
(ICU), operations rooms (OR), blood transfusion services, Coronary Care Unit (CCU),
Emergency Rooms (ER) and medication management including medication administration.

2RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN
Identifying risk is to collect data regarding the risk involved that can be taken from chiefs,
managers and staffs (Obama, 2016). Analyzing risk is to analyze the level of risk, underlying
causes and existing control measures. Evaluation of risk is to prioritize the risk according to the
scores gained during the analysis. Treating and management of risk is the solution to the risk.
The types of risk it looks after is operational, clinical and patient safety, financial,
strategic, legal and regulatory, human capital, environmental and technological hazards. These
are the risk domains that are included in the risk management plans of a functioning healthcare
organization.
There are certain negative implications if risk management plans are not used such as the
mismanagement of patient safety protocols. People in the organization will be more prone to
risks and dangerous situations that can harm their treatment or increase the chances of infection
in the premises. If certain protocols are not followed or maintained then it can also hamper the
technological database, financial limitations, accreditation, market shares and brand value
including the community standing of a healthcare organization (Wu, Chen & Olson, 2014). To
give an example, if the bed rail of a patient is broken then it should be notified with the help of
risk management plan during patient rounds. In the same way, highly risked patients should be
identified and given the required facility that will not make other patients susceptible to such
infections.

3RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN
References
NEJM Catalyst. (2018). What Is Risk Management in Healthcare?. Retrieved 29 January 2020,
from https://catalyst.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/CAT.18.0197
Obama, B. (2016). United States health care reform: progress to date and next
steps. Jama, 316(5), 525-532.
World Health Organization. (2017). Patient safety: making health care safer (No.
WHO/HIS/SDS/2017.11). World Health Organization.
Wu, D. D., Chen, S. H., & Olson, D. L. (2014). Business intelligence in risk management: Some
recent progresses. Information Sciences, 256, 1-7.