As the year winds down, we have been organizing files and reflecting on the colleagues we have met, the programs we have attended, and the presentations we have given. The theme that runs throughout the year – and will probably continue into 2018 – is that everything old is new again. As we work together to support CAP physician members and their staff, and the wider community beyond CAP, we inevitably talk about accepting and mitigating risk. In collaboration with Randie Minovitz, BSN, RN, from PIH Health Whittier (and a CAP alumna), we developed a presentation, “Risk Management Forever – Because Everything Old Is New Again.” Here is a summary of what we spoke about:
The healthcare delivery landscape continues to evolve with uncertainty the only constant. Every aspect of a physician’s practice – patients and their families, staff, suppliers, hospitals – is buffeted by competing and sometimes contradictory demands. The hurdles we
face include:
- Working within and clarifying new and unfamiliar structures
- Interpreting a new taxonomy/lexicon/data/analytics
- Anticipating and responding to new and unexpected challenges
- Educating, modeling, mentoring, and translating for a new generation of colleagues
As we meet with and hear from physicians and their staff, they are very clear about their purpose. They believe we need to keep our shared goals and objectives in sharp focus. When all is said and done, what we really want is:
- Patient safety
- Physician safety
- Staff safety
- Organizational safety
In pursuit of these goals and objectives, our work calls on us to mobilize our very real strengths :
- Flexibility
- Organizational savvy and influence
- Communication, communication, communication
- Persistence and ability to overcome resistance
We build on a solid foundation of time-tested elements that are much more than a checklist at which we roll
our eyes and smile.
- Communication
- Documentation
- Follow up and follow through
- Medication reconciliation
- Informed consent
- Transitions of care
These elements constitute a strategy for providing patient and family-centered coordinated care that makes the most effective use of the resources we have to offer. They are timeless classics, and they will never go out of style.
Carole Lambert is Vice President, Practice Optimization for CAP. Questions or comments related to this article may be sent to clambert@CAPphysicians.com.