Risk Management

1 Risk Management An Assessment of the Organization's Risk Management Program The health organization under consideration, in this case, is the assisted living facility which is called Regency Park Assisted Living Facility, where I have been working for the last two years. There have been attempts to put in place some risk management strategies in this facility, and the risk management strategies are reviewed continuously. Some of the risks that have been earmarked as the most likely include slips and falls, abuse, sexual and physical abuse, fleeing or wandering away, failure to supervise, wrongful death, improper administration of the medication, wound issues and transportation accidents. As such, it is the facility's policy to ensure that employee training is provided upon hire and periodically throughout the year. Again, it is one of the policies for the facility to document all the conversations between the physicians, staff, and family members and have a highly organized system for administering medication.

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2 All staff members are supposed to be thoroughly screened before hiring, and whenever possible, facilities should have multiple staff members working together to prevent any form of resident abuse. The facility also takes security measures to prevent residents from leaving the premises unexpectedly, such as video surveillance, security guards, and secured exits. The facility also has measures tailored towards identifying residents at risk of fleeing or wandering away through a comprehensive screening process that would take place upon admission and at fixed time intervals throughout their residence, with elopement education and drills. More importantly, this initiative has always been planned (Alam, 2016). This makes it possible for the facility to plan from the near misses and incidences to adjust their strategy and prevent future occurrences.

Policies anchored on risk management best practices in behaviors, abuse, elopement, fall, and skin integrity. The policy in place underscores the need for the new residents to be screened before moving into the facility. The assisted living facilities are also supposed to be safe, comfortable, and welcoming. Achieving a home-like environment has been the facility's goal, and this includes aspects such as independence, privacy, and individuality on behalf of the residents (Card, Ward, & Clarkson, 2012). There are also policies undergirding consumer protections. They encompass a wide range of aspects such as contracts to resident rights, the staff responsibilities, the payment, the billing plans, and the shared responsibilities between the caregivers and residents (Alam, 2016). The management team should continuously identify the potential risk and eliminate or mitigate the risks before creating legal issues.

When it comes to high-risk healthcare concerns, there seems to be no adequate preparedness by the assisted living administrators and direct staff to develop and implement a comprehensive health emergency response. This points to a situation whereby there is no

3 thorough emergency preparedness planning, well-defined means of promoting residents and the wellbeing of the staff, and prevention of infections and outbreaks (Alam, 2016).

There have been some attempts to ensure that the facility is compliant with state and federal regulations to protect the facility from possible litigation issues. Employee practices have been well coordinated to meet the residents' distinct needs. However, there have been situations where the residents do not adhere to the terms of the resident agreement. As such, it has found itself in issues involving collection to discharge.

Action Steps You Would Take to Improve One Area of the Organization's Risk Management Program Even though sound risk management initiatives have been put in place, further reinforcement can be put in place to seal some of the loopholes identified above. For instance, the facility should be regularly inspected to ensure that they are structurally sound and can withstand potential strong weather conditions. It is also supposed to have an adequate emergency food supply, which should be kept on hand. In addition, there should be backup generators that are ready to step in in a power outage, and employees are supposed to know whom to contact in the event of an emergency (Card et al., 2012).

Even though the facility also tries to be compliant with the State and Federal regulations, it should have an attorney who will keep it posted with the recent changes in the law and understand the unique legal issues that Assisted Living facilities and providers face daily. In addition, the attorney will help the organization address issues such as the preparation of the financial agreement, late payment from private residents, or addressing aged receivables. This will prevent possible litigations arising from these issues or help the facility combat the likely

4 litigations from different stakeholders. There should also be performance metrics to detect the leakages from the risk management initiatives in good time.

5 References Alam, A. Y. (2016). Steps in the process of risk management in healthcare. Journal of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, 2(2), 118.

Card, A. J., Ward, J., & Clarkson, P. J. (2012). Successful risk assessment may not always lead to successful risk control: a systematic literature review of risk control after root cause analysis. Journal of Healthcare Risk Management, 31(3), 6-12.