The covid-19 pandemic stands as a testimony to the most important role played by the healthcare personnel and the whole industry in general.
In today’s complex and evolving healthcare industry, healthcare professionals face a myriad of risks in their everyday work. While they are focused on providing the best care to their patients, they may not be aware of the risks they face. According to leading healthcare advisory consultant, Asia Care Group, the five categories of risks below account for the majority of medical malpractice claims.
Human risk:
- Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis
- Prescribing errors (dosing error, adverse interactions, wrong method of administering)
- Failure to take proper history / failure to spot allergies or intolerances
- Failure to act on results in a timely or appropriate manner
- Inadequate follow-up or long-term management
- Poor communication of the condition/procedure leading to an adverse outcome
- Error in selection or administering of a procedure
- Inadequate pre/post surgery prep, leading to adverse event (e.g. wrong sided surgery)
- Failure to provide prophylactics
Process risk:
- Inappropriate waiting time protocols leading to delays in process with adverse impact
- Inappropriate triage processes leading to mistreatment/untimely treatment
- Lack of clinical process guidelines
- Lack of discharge/admission protocols
Technology risk:
- Data privacy breaches
- Malfunction of medical devices leading to patient harm
- Inability to access electronic records, leading to missing history/inappropriate action
- Data-entry error
- Barcoding error, leading to inaccurate tracking or use of equipment/drugs
- CCTV at locations considered to be private for patients
Compliance risk:
- Failure to follow regulatory controls of medication
- Failure to comply with medical waste legislation
- Failure to document patient consent
- Failure to meet regulatory quality standards
- Breaches of health and safety
- Failure to keep equipment maintenance records
Organization risk:
- Lack of adequate patient safety protocols such as general infection control and theatre sterilisation policies
- Lack of safeguarding policies
- Lack of HR/credentialing checks
- Lack of safe injection and blood transfusion practice guidelines
- Lack of guidelines to respect patient’s cultural and religious choices in medical treatment
Healthcare industry in India comprises of hospitals, medical devices, clinical trials, outsourcing, telemedicine, medical tourism, health insurance, and medical equipment. The healthcare sector is growing at a tremendous pace owing to its strengthening coverage, services, and increasing expenditure by public as well private players.
Apart from the regular risks and challenges faced by the healthcare industry, some of the modern risks are Cyber hacks and data breaches, Healthcare Infections, Telemedicine, Violent Incidents in Hospitals, Alarm Fatigue, Preparedness for Pandemics, Healthcare Reform/Physician Integration , Environmental Pollutants, Emergency Preparedness…etc.
At Securus, with our comprehensive understanding of today’s healthcare challenges, our extended team of insurance and healthcare professionals work with you to understand your risk exposure and provide various solutions to mitigate risks.
