Here are four elements to consider when establishing an anesthesia risk management program:
1. Reporting. Consistent and thorough reporting helps organizations identify trends, track, benchmark and note where anesthesia efforts were most concentrated. Reporting also helps organizations develop proactive strategies to reduce or eliminate risk.
2. Adverse event response. Develop guidelines and train staff in them to provide a clear path for response to an adverse event. This helps eliminate confusion and reduce risk.
3. Incident supervisor. Establish an ‘incident supervisor’ role, which puts one person in charge of exerting quality control when an adverse event occurs.
4. Disclosure. Disclosure after an adverse event is the right thing to do, and disclosing adverse events to the patient and family — when in compliance with HIPAA — could potentially prevent lawsuits. However, organizations must make sure that the disclosure note is well-documented and specific.
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