June 20-25, 2005
Every
June, the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) sponsors
Healthcare Risk Management Week. Healthcare Risk Management Week is
a time to recognize the work of risk managers as they promote safe,
high quality patient care and reduce pecuniary losses. This year, ASHRM
has chosen the theme "Make Your Mark" on healthcare risk management.
The
Risk Management Department at Professional Risk Management Services,
Inc., manager of The Psychiatrists' Program, is staffed by experienced
professionals with legal and clinical backgrounds who understand the
clinical situations as well as the legal and risk management issues
faced by psychiatrists. In keeping with the "Make Your Mark"
theme of National Healthcare Risk Management Week, we recently asked
Program risk managers to comment on how they have "made their mark"
on risk management.
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Suicide
Risk Management: Foreseeing Future Problems
- Behavioral
Health Management Magazine, June 2005
Get
to Know Jacqueline Melonas, RN, MS, JD
- May
2005
Limiting
Your Risks When Prescribing SSRIs
-
Psychiatric News, October 2004
Psychiatrists
Advised on Ways To Avoid Legal Quicksand
- Psychiatric
News, June 2004
Making
Risk Management Manageable: PRMS Seminar Keeps Psychiatrists on
Top of Trends
- PRMS, May 2004
Courts
Interpret Boundaries Of HIPAA Privacy Rule
Donna Vanderpool, J.D., M.B.A.
-
Psychiatric News, May 2004
Patient-Safety
Strategies Can Reduce Suicide Risk
Jacqueline M. Melonas, J.D., R.N., M.S.
-
Psychiatric News, April 2004
Use
of S&R: Patient Safety, Risk Management Considerations
Donna Vanderpool, J.D., M.B.A.
-
Psychiatric News, March 2004
PRMS
Assistant Vice President Simplifies HIPAA at AOOP Conference
- PRMS, January 2004
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Get
to Know Jacqueline Melonas, RN, MS, JD
Vice President, Risk Management
I think the people who "make their mark" and have the largest
potential for having an impact on risk management and patient safety
are all the psychiatrists and other healthcare professionals who treat
and care for patients everyday. It's our mission to support those clinicians
with the information and resources they need to avoid professional liability
problems - that's how we can make our mark in promoting risk management.
One area where we have an opportunity to provide
this support is through our talks on psychiatric-specific risk management
topics at educational seminars sponsored by PRMS, Inc. and as guest
speakers at other professional programs. Sometimes the best risk management
solutions come when the psychiatrists in attendance begin to discuss
the issues and share strategies that have worked for them. At a recent
talk about psychopharmacology and liability issues, a psychiatrist shared
her approach to talking to patients and families about medications.
She has found this approach to be useful in managing unrealistic expectations
and increasing some patients' responsibility in relation to their medication
regime. Several attendees commented that this gave them some new ideas
about ways to talk to patients about medications that could improve
patients' adherence to the treatment plan. At another program, the question
and answer session provided an opportunity for psychiatrists in attendance
to share ideas about systems utilized in their private practices for
making sure that bloodwork, other diagnostic testing and clinical monitoring
is done on a timely basis and to insure follow-up of lab results - an
important patient safety activity.
We'll continue to make our mark in risk management
by providing educational programs that are practical and informative
and that stimulate discussion about increasing the effectiveness of
risk management strategies.
Assistant Vice President, Risk Management
I think one of the many ways that we have made our mark on risk management
is by aggressively informing our psychiatrists about the implications
and requirements of the HIPAA regulations, particularly the Privacy
Rule. We began researching the regulatory requirements and publishing
our interpretations of those requirements in 2001, years before the
compliance date in 2003. We thought it was important to provide comprehensive
resources and compliance tools for not only those psychiatrists required
to comply with the regulations, but also for those not technically required
to comply - because the Privacy Rule is a floor of minimum confidentiality
protections that all psychiatrists may expect to be judged by. Our Privacy
Rule articles have been published in several healthcare publications,
as well as in a legal journal. Additionally, starting in 2001, we've
been invited to speak nationally on HIPAA's impact on psychiatrists.
Senior Risk Manager
I think we have made our mark by consciously reframing the traditional
approach to risk management education. We have tried to avoid a narrow,
fear-based approach that focuses on lawsuit prevention - a negative
approach to learning that breeds an antagonistic mentality in both physicians
and patients. Instead, we have chosen to focus on the ways in which
risk management serves to support patient care, particularly by emphasizing
on-going communication - a positive approach that encourages a therapeutic
relationship between physicians and patients.
Senior Risk Manager
I think we make our mark every day with our Risk Management Consultation
Service. The Service offers "real time" risk management as
often events are unfolding as we're speaking to the psychiatrist. Sometimes
a psychiatrist calls because he or she has discovered a true quagmire.
Often, the calling psychiatrist already has formulated a plan of action
and is seeking feedback. Callers say that just having a risk manager
available to listen and offer suggestions is a great comfort. At the
end of the day, we make our mark one phone call at a time.
