Risk Assessment
In Health Care
T HER E A R E T W O skill sets under taught and underval-
ued among leadership teams: risk assessment and crisis
management. A good risk assessment reduces the need for
crisis management.
Often compartmentalized to an emergency manager, the
fundamental responsibility for assessing and planning for
risk rests with board members and leadership teams .
Assessing risks and hazards for health and patient safety,
cyber security, facilities, programs, finances , reputation, compliance and integrity
should be an annual agenda item for board members and other leadership. What are our
priorities? Who could be harmed? Do we understand where our focus would improve
the benefits and outcomes of this work? Everything has risk, but the opportunity in
a risk assessment is to prioritize what can have meaningful risk reduction.
It's a great area to use as a test case for a team. What keeps us up at night? How do
we prioritize and prepare? In a crisis, do we have all the tools and plans to function?
I have written a simulation for teams available on LinkedIn.com/kathrynruscitto.
If you have engaged in this work, have your suppliers and subcontractors?
The coronavirus gave many teams the opportunity to experience in real time the
lack of pandemic risk assessment and planning in our supply chain. This experience
not only heightened our awareness about the vulnerabilities in our organizations but,
more importantly, in our partners. We recognized how interdependent we are and
the importance of asking those partners if they are also engaging in assessing risk.
Defense contractors and insurers maintain risk plans and have adopted good
processes around input for these plans. In addition to the board or leader providing
direction, they must engage input from all stakeholders in the organization. Those
closest to the process best understand the vulnerabilities.
Kimberly Townsend, President and CEO of Loretto, states that her board created
a risk management committee and has found the experience important.
"Our Board is using a board led committee to work with our leadership team to
evaluate all aspects of our facilities and operations," Townsend says.
Consider assessing your areas of risk and planning for the next crisis.
n
You can reach out to Kathryn Ruscitto on LinkedIn or via email at krusct@gmail.com.
Resources
to Use
WEBSITES
+ Ready.gov
+ OSHA.gov
+ EPA.gov
PODCA STS
+ RIMScast: rims.org/
resources/rimscast
+ Public Risk Management:
soundcloud.com/
public-risk-mgmt-assoc
+ Cyber Risk Management:
cyberriskopportunities.com/
cyber-risk-resources/cyber-
risk-management-podcast/
+ Health Professionals
Assessing Risk:
soundcloud.com/
user-37591569
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