Introduction
Risk management and continuous quality improvement are fundamental elements of the modern healthcare sector. The fact is that these two notions guarantee the stable functioning of diverse health units along with the gradual reconsideration of outdated practices to replace them with new ones and ensure improved outcomes. For this reason, the enhanced understanding of the ways risk management and continuous quality improvement are integrated with the existing working environment is critical for specialists belonging to the healthcare sector as it guarantees better performance levels and enhanced results. In this regard, the paper is devoted to the interview with a risk management specialist to reveal the central practice utilized at the workplace and discuss their significance.
Interview
The meeting took place at the hospital during a small break. The risk management specialist agreed to answer questions about his current tasks and duties along with the risk assessment tools that are used to monitor the situation in the hospital and avoid accidents or emergencies. During the interview, the officer emphasized an outstanding role risk management plays in the work of any health unit because of the necessity to minimize the risk of the appearance of potentially dangerous situations. The fact is that the lives of patients depend on the quality of their work and the choice of tools to prevent negative outcomes. That is why it becomes critical to utilize the most innovative and efficient approaches to monitor the functioning of the facility and ensure positive results
RCA
One of the methods discussed during the interview is the root cause analysis (RCA) that is widely used in the facility. The risk management specialists prior task is the identification of root causes of failures peculiar to the functioning of the hospital (Kavaler & Alexander, 2012). Delving into these aspects, he can eliminate the reason for the emergence of problematic situations and prevent their recurrence in the future. However, he admits the fact that the complete prevention of new failures is not always possible because of the peculiarities of the working environment and its changing character. For this reason, any risk management specialist should be ready to engage in continuous assessment procedures to ensure positive results and reduce the probability of failure.
FMEA
The interviewed officer also utilizes failure mode effects analysis (FMEA) to understand the central cause of certain accidents and eliminate them. This approach presupposes the in-depth assessment of multiple components of a particular system to identify failure modes, the primary reason for their appearance, and the effects they might have on the functioning of the unit (Moore, 2016). The use of FMEA helps to generate the experience needed to create an environment with a minimal number of risk factors and beneficial for patients and health workers.
Conclusion
Altogether, the interview with a risk management officer can be considered a positive experience that helped to acquire additional knowledge about risk management in health facilities. The interviewee provided relevant information about the tools he uses to minimize the probability of failure and create a new environment. At the same time, the importance of such methods as FMEA and RCA is also emphasized by the health specialist. In this regard, risk management can be considered one of the elements of quality improvement as it guarantees the elimination of causes that might deteriorate the functioning of the unit and improved results attained due to the monitoring of the situation.
References
Kavaler, F., & Alexander, R. (2012). Risk management in health care institutions: Limiting liability and enhancing care (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Moore, C. (2016). Introduction to risk management in health care. New York, NY: DCFX Publishing.