Health Care Risk Management Program

1 Health Care Risk Management Program Risks to patients, health care staff, family members, and organizations are inevitable in health care settings. Health care leaders have the mandate to implement practical risk management programs to maintain the safety of the health care environment (Donaldson et al., 2020). A risk management program provides a platform for predicting, identifying, assessing, and monitoring potential risks at all levels. These risks vary from one health setting to another.

For instance, the risk of falling is greater in geriatric stroke rehabilitation centers than in pediatric units. Failure to manage fall risks predisposes health patients and care stakeholders to devastating consequences. Delivering care in an unsafe environment could lead to injury, falls, infections, and health complications among patients and care providers. This paper investigates fall prevention and reduction plans in a stroke rehabilitation unit.

Buy this excellently written paper or order a fresh one from ace-myhomework.com

2 Risk Management Program Fall risk management is an evidence-based quality improvement plan that helps prevent and reduce fall incidences in health care settings. This program identifies individuals at risk of falling due to underlying health conditions and organizational factors. King et al. (2018) noted that fall prevention is central to quality improvement and better health outcomes. Falls expose patients to adverse consequences, including fractures, bruises, and injuries, thus complicating treatment. Severe injuries due to falls increase the risk of death among patients. Conversely, fall risk management improves patients’ confidence with health care staff members and organizational structures besides eradicating the need for prolonged hospital stay (King et al., 2018). Fall prevention helps maintain an individual’s independence, mobility, and ability to selfcare.

Stroke Rehabilitation Center Stroke survivors have a higher possibility of falling than other patient populations. This risk stands at 14% in the first month of recovery but decreases with time (Lui & Nguyen, 2018).

However, stroke survivors have a higher dependence rate, activity limitation, and intense fear of falling than other patients. Therefore, fall prevention occupies a central position in stroke rehabilitation programs. Health care providers in a stroke rehabilitation center collaborate with families, stroke survivors, and other health professionals to provide quality rehabilitation services and ensure survivors are protected from falls. Integrating fall prevention into stroke rehabilitation improves survivors’ functionality, dependence, and return-home rates (Lui & Nguyen, 2018). This program protects clients from unwarranted health risks that lead to complications and prolong hospital stays. The fear of falling prevents stroke survivors from

3 participating in daily activities, thus limiting their productivity (Le Danseur, 2020). Fall prevention, however, boosts their confidence to move around and tackle physical tasks.

Standard Risk Management Processes All health care organizations follow standard risk management processes, including risk prediction, identification, evaluation, and management to achieve and maintain patient and staff safety (Shaikh, 2019). Risk prediction entails outlining situations, settings, and practices that increase the risk of poor outcomes. This process is followed by risk identification, whereby health leaders categorize specific risks associated with health care services. The health leader then performs risk analysis to identify the trigger factors, the impact and control measures of specific risks (Shaikh, 2019). A risk evaluation helps the leader prioritize risk management based on the seriousness of identified risks. Risk management is the final step whereby the leader collaborates with other staff members to implement preventive measures.

Key Agencies and Organizations Several agencies are mandated to regulate health care organizations and ensure all health care services are safe and suitable for the target patient populations. These agencies include The Joint Commission, the Healthcare Quality Promotion (DHQP), and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The Joint Commission provides accreditation to institutions that demonstrate high-quality service. On the other hand, AHRQ collaborates with research institutions to provide evidence that could improve the safety and quality of health services. It also forms partnerships with the Department of Health to ensure evidence is understood and utilized appropriately in health care settings. The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) also regulates health care organizations to guarantee quality services to clients.

Risk Management Plan Compliance with MIPPA Standards

4 Fall risk management in stroke rehabilitation settings conforms to the Joint Commission’s safety and quality of care regulations. The plan involves risk assessment and quality improvement measures focusing on patient care and organizational functions necessary to improve safety (Shaikh, 2019). The Joint Commission uses fall prevention to indicate the organization’s commitment to safety protocols. Importantly, the commission liaises with hospitals to identify and implement practical fall prevention interventions (Donaldson et al., 2020). The fall prevention plan comprises a staff education forum to increase awareness and understanding of evidence-based practices that prevent falls and improve safety and quality of services. The program also encourages integrating fall prevention into patient education plans to improve patient involvement in their safety.

Compliance with Risk Management Protocol Nursing professionals use “falls” as indicators for change in their clients’ health, implying that falls serve as tools for monitoring nursing care quality. Implementing a fall prevention program reduces falls, categorized as major risks to patient safety. The fall prevention program complies with the national and state risk management protocols on nursing-sensitive indicators. These protocols recognize implementing risk mitigation interventions in health care settings as remarkable steps towards achieving universal health safety objectives (Donaldson et al., 2020).

Risk Management and Quality Improvement Recommendations The fall prevention plan should incorporate patient education to ensure patients understand fall prevention measures and actively participate in safety improvement strategies.

The Joint Commission supports patient education and recognizes it as an instrument to raise awareness about patient falls and champion preventative measures. The proposed plan should

5 embrace an interprofessional approach to ensure all staff members participate in patient safety improvement. An interprofessional approach to quality improvement strengthens the base on which staff members could utilize holistic strategies to prevent falls. Health care leaders should use standardized tools while identifying and evaluating fall risk factors in stroke rehabilitation settings. Notably, the plan should incorporate a post-fall management strategy. This strategy aims to maintain compliance with fall prevention protocol among care providers and identify areas of improvement.

Conclusion Health risk management is an important process that protects patients, staff members, and health organizations from numerous risks. A fall risk management plan protects patients from falls that lead to injuries, fractures, prolonged hospital stays, and increased health care costs. The fall prevention plan complies with standards of risk management practices. It also aligns with the concepts and objectives of quality control agencies such as AHRQ and the joint commission.

6 References Donaldson, L., Ricciardi, W., Sheridan, S., & Tartaglia, R. (2021). Textbook of patient safety and clinical risk management. Springer Nature King, B., Pecanac, K., Krupp, A., Liebzeit, D., & Mahoney, J. (2018). Impact of fall prevention on nurses and care of fall risk patients. The Gerontologist, 58(2), 331-340. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnw156 Le Danseur, M. (2020). Stroke rehabilitation. Critical Care Nursing Clinics, 32(1), 97-108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cnc.2019.11.004 Lui, S. K., & Nguyen, M. H. (2018). Elderly stroke rehabilitation: overcoming the complications and its associated challenges. Current gerontology and geriatrics research, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/9853837 Shaikh, Z. M. (2019). A textbook on healthcare quality improvement, patient safety, and risk management glossary. KY Publications.