Comprehensive Risk Assessment & Recommendations

MRM's team has extensive experience in reviewing physician group practices and healthcare facility risk management programs in tertiary care, teaching, and research entities, as well as community organizations and government owned facilities. In the course of that work, MRM's team has been involved in the development, refinement, and implementation of organization-wide integrated risk management programs.

MRM's risk assessment services establish the "baseline" for client specific risk management programs and allows MRM's clients to benefit from "best practices" which MRM has developed with other clients. The risk assessment is performed by a team of risk management, clinical, legal and information systems experts. The final report includes a detailed list of findings and specific recommendations that clients can utilize to design or enhance their risk management program.

Physician Group Practice Assessments

Historically, assessment design and implementation of healthcare risk management solutions has not been performed at physician practice sites. The emergence of larger single and multi-specialty group practices as well as the advances in communications and information technology have made the introduction of systematic risk management programs for physician group practices an imperative for increasing patient safety and thwarting medical malpractice exposure. MRM is a pioneer and leader in this area.

When performing physician group practice risk assessments the MRM team meets with administrative and physician support personnel as well as practicing physicians in multiple practice sites. In doing so MRM's team can identify existing practices and protocols which are risk prone. The specific areas of review include:

1. Education and patient communications;
2. Tracking system for radiology studies, labs, consults, etc.;
3. Procedures for patient follow up;
4. Procedures for no shows/cancellations;
5. Criteria for patient discharge/process for patient discharge;
6. Standards regarding timeliness of consults/diagnostic studies;
7. Procedure for scheduling consults/diagnostic studies and follow up procedure;
8. Patient phone call procedures;
9. Policies regarding telemedicine – diagnosing/prescribing;
10. Policies regarding e-medicine – diagnosing/prescribing;
11. Practice regarding obtaining/incorporating prior patient records;
12. After hours procedures/practices;
13. "Informed consent" practices regarding:
• treatment recommendations/alternatives;
• preventative screenings; and
• prescription medications;
14. Second opinion policy; and
15. Peer review practices/protocols.

Hospital & Institutional Assessments

MRM's team performs the assessment of the risk management efforts at the healthcare institution through individual and group interviews and thorough data and document reviews. Interviews are conducted with a broad range of individuals including physicians, management, patient care providers, and administrative staff.

Since risk follows the patient, so should practice improvements. In order to gain an understanding of the client's existing risk management efforts, the MRM team meets with the risk/claims management staff, quality improvement personnel, as well as key stakeholders in the known, high risk areas of obstetrical, surgical services and emergency services. A comprehensive risk assessment report is compiled for each client.