While it’s difficult to ensure that no mistake or wrongdoing ever occurs in a healthcare environment, adequate preparation will help staff address those that do. This requires a cooperative effort from healthcare leaders, practitioners, and other staff members to ensure all risks are acknowledged and accounted for. But effective risk management is more than just being aware of these threats it entails developing, implementing, and practicing policies and protocols to address them. These real and ever-present dangers illustrate the need for comprehensive risk management in healthcare. Sensitive data, such as electronic health records (EHRs), can be compromised and manipulated by digital criminals, and inadequate cleansing or sterilization can open up patients to new infections and ailments. Practitioners need to take into account new regulations and legal requirements when providing patient care. On any given day, professionals in hospitals and healthcare facilities across the country encounter a variety of risks that can impact an organization’s performance and potentially impair patient health.

Role of a risk manager in healthcare