Risk management in pathology and laboratory medicine.

ABSTRACT

An effective risk-management program focuses attention on and minimizes events that ideally should not occur. In the laboratory, risk-management issues can be divided along two major lines (1) patient-care-related issues and (2) employee-related issues (safety). The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, Chicago, Ill, has established formal requirements for risk-management programs for hospitals and clinical departments. These requirements include patient-care-related activities and management functions related to the safety-management functions. The concept of a formal risk-management program may be new to pathologists and laboratory professionals; the components of the program are traditional elements of laboratory policies and procedures. Key items identified as building blocks for risk management are these (1) risk prevention, (2) risk identification, (3) risk assessment, (4) corrective actions, and (5) loss control. Through the systematic implementation of a comprehensive risk-management program, laboratories have the opportunity to reduce liability exposure and improve the quality of care and services.