The Net Guide: Risk Management

Online CME

Evaluation & Management of Perioperative AnemiaCredits: 2.00

Fee: None

Expires: April 30, 2012

Multimedia: None

Identification of the risks of perioperative anemia and blood transfusion, evaluation of both pre- and postoperative anemia, strategies for managing causes of anemia, transfusion thresholds during the perioperative period, and modalities for reducing perioperative allogeneic blood exposure risk are all explored is this interactive course. Broken into six sections, the activity requires participants to correctly answer questions related to each section before proceeding to the next, insuring learning and a higher chance of passing the post-test.

Link Code: h4331

Healthcare Risk Management Online Certificate ProgramCredits: 120.00

Fee: $779.00

Expires: October 1, 2010 (if enrolled prior to this date, participants will automatically transition to the renewed course)

Multimedia: Not Listed

This self-paced program, though designed to meet the Florida education requirements for licensure as a health care risk manager, is available to all physicians. Participants are given 4 months to complete the course, which is divided into 14 units, each containing online reading, textbook reading, and a unit exercise that is to be completed and returned to the course instructor via the course grade-book. Topics addressed include the history and purpose of risk management, healthcare standards and regulations, methods for mitigating risk exposure, environmental and occupational risk exposures, risk control techniques for reducing patient errors and increasing patient safety, systems that link risk management with quality improvement, and elements of negligence, liability, medical malpractice, and management of insurance claims.

Link Code: h4332

Prevention and Treatment of Surgical Site InfectionsCredits: 2.00

Fee: None

Expires: December 15, 2010

Multimedia: None

Designed specifically for hospitalists, this activity reviews “patient- and procedure-associated risk factors for the development of surgical site infections (SSIs);” basic principles of antimicrobial prophylaxis for SSI; “nonantibiotic interventions designed to reduce a patient’s risk of developing SSIs, including prevention of hypothermia, reduction of hyperglycemia, and appropriate hair removal practices;” preoperative decolonization of Staphylococcus aureus and the controversy surrounding it; and the assessment and treatment of a patient with a possible SSI.

Link Code: h4333

Pulmonary Risk Management in the Perioperative SettingCredits: 2.00

Fee: None

Expires: November 15, 2010

Multimedia: None

Part of the Johns Hopkins Consultative Medicine Essentials for Hospitalists, this activity reviews the impact of postoperative pulmonary complications, risk factors that are associated with higher incidence of them, the role played by both routine preoperative spirometry and chest radiograph, and evidence-based, risk-reduction strategies.

Link Code: h4334

Risk Management Consult: Handoffs and HospitalistsCredits: 5.00

Fee: $75.00

Expires: December 31, 2011

Multimedia: Not Listed

With the goal of presenting ways in which participants can avoid malpractice suits—usually caused by a misunderstanding of the nature and scope of a physician’s duty in a give circumstance, due to poor communication—and therefore improve patient safety in the hospital setting. The course addresses “liability considerations involved when one doctor is expected to receive and follow up on the results of medical tests ordered by another physician. liability considerations involved when one doctor is expected to receive and follow up on the results of medical tests ordered by another physician,” the results of poorly managed hand-offs and how to make them smoother, how to better understand one’s own responsibilities, nondelegable duties as a physician, and how the SBAR communication model works.

Link Code: h4335

Medical WebsitesSpecialty-Specific Risk Articles: Hospitalists

The Doctors Company—“the first medical malpractice insurer to establish a patient safety department… set the industry standard with innovative products and services that reduce risk in your practice and help you avoid claims.” With that in mind, the company offers a collection of ten articles focused on risk issues faced by hospitalists. Titles include “Who’s in Charg?” “Strategies to Reduce Liability Risks for Hospitalists,” and “An Analysis of Internal Medicine Malpractice Claims.” Each is expertly written and done so in short-paragraph or bullet-point format for easy consumption.

Link Code: h4311

AHA: Liability Reform

This site provides access to the ins and outs of the October 15, 2009 American Hospital Association Position Paper on Medical Liability Reform. Along with a brief overview, highlights, the latest related news, links to related resources, advocacy information, and contact information, the site provides access to the AHA’s framework for medical liability reform and the full position paper (for registered users). Of use to hospitalists is the “Resources” section, specifically the hospital resources included within, which cover culture of safety, alternatives to litigation, and responses to tort reform.

Link Code: h4312

ASHRM Exchange

This new Web-based community from the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management allows members who are registered with the site to “connect and share resources and expertise with other healthcare risk management professionals.” Through discussion groups, a resource library or policies and procedures, an online directory, searchable archives, a glossary, and member profiles, users can “ask questions, share policies and procedures, build a professional network of contacts, connect with others who share their interests and specialties, and plug into with an entire healthcare risk management community.” Not a member? Click the Join/Renew button at the top right of any page to find out how to join.

Link Code: h4313

eAbstracts

Integrating Risk Management Activities into a Patient Safety ProgramJournal: Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology (September 2010)

Authors: Boothman R, Blackwell A

Purpose: To describe the key role in patient safety played by a “departmental culture that encourages continuous quality care and honest, critical introspection,” as risk management can help enrich “departmental quality efforts, providing evidence-based direction and flag vulnerabilities.”

Results: Higher quality patient care, safer departmental staff, and lower risk can be seen through the integration of risk management resources into a department-wide patient safety program.

Link Code: h4351

Risk Management in Clinical Practice, Part 1: IntroductionJournal: British Dental Journal (July 10, 2010)

Author: D’Cruz L

Purpose: To examine the reasons for why patients complain and explore “the concepts of precipitating and predisposing factors.”

Results: Patients who are dissatisfied with their care may seek legal redress. For the delivery of high-quality care, record keeping is essential. Referrals should be considered upon patient request or when treatment is more complex than the practitioner can manage.

Link Code: h4352

Risk Management in Clinical Practice, Part 2: Getting to 'Yes'--the Matter of ConsentJournal: British Dental Journal (July 24, 2010)

Author: D’Cruz L

Purpose: To explain the importance of obtaining a valid consent, what it means, and how to do so.

Results: Patients must have the legal capacity to do so—and knowledge of risks, benefits, and alternate treatments—before being able to consent to treatment, with the amount of information provided to them based, to some degree, by the legal system prevailing. Further, patients “must voluntarily agree to treatment without being coerced by the [physician] or other parties and if things change during treatment the patient needs to be advised.” Although written consent is useful in the defense of a case, the simple signing of a “form does not mean that the patient knows or understands the treatment to which they have agreed.”

Link Code: h4353