Our patients' safety through our new vision,mission, and strategic plan

This being my first president's column, I would be remiss if I did not provide a heartfelt thanks to the ASHRM membership, who elected me to serve as your 2013 ASHRM President. Thank you all for allowing me to continue to give back to our fine and noble healthcare risk management profession!.     

ASHRM code of Ethics

In May, the ASHRM Code of Ethics was mailed to all members. Following is a reprint of the Code of Ethics, as well as the letter from ASHRM president Ellen L. Barton, J.D., CPCU, DASHRM, that introduced the code.     

“Risk management” is a verb

To optimally demonstrate the value of risk management, our actions must show the benefits. The American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) board needs to provide support through tools and resources. ASHRM members must show through their actions the value of risk management. And ASHRM members need to show the organization where actions and activities should be focused in the future. Actions show the value of enterprise risk management.     

Meeting your needs,now and in the future

President Obama has repeatedly said that healthcare reform is not a luxury that can be postponed but a necessity that cannot wait. Healthcare change is all around us, and ASHRM is continually working to assist its members with opportunities to demonstrate their value and leadership within their respective organizations.     

Keep that magic going in 2015!

Greetings and welcome to ASHRM's 35th anniversary year! As I begin my term as president, I acknowledge and appreciate the richness and depth of our organization's history and value the wisdom of our many members and volunteers who have been actively involved in ASHRM from the beginning, as well as those of us who haven't been around that long!     

Gaining momentum in the long, uphill battle to "get to zero"

I am truly privileged to be addressing you for the first time in the Journal of Healthcare Risk Management. I'm looking forward to getting to know you and working with you. I want to learn more about all the great ways that each of you has been making a difference in keeping our patients safe and building trust in our healthcare systems. As you know, the ASHRM Board is completely committed to finding solutions through the empowerment of our members. We believe in you. In that spirit, we are coming up with new ways to fund research and make critical connections that will fuel ideas.     

Pearls of wisdom: Practical application of the Pearls series

Scores of ASHRM members have collaborated to produce the Pearls Series, a set of pocket guides on topics of interest for not only risk managers but also administrators, clinicians, and board members. The succinct format facilitates the dissemination of pertinent information to a wide audience. Risk managers should be knowledgeable of the Pearls topics, understand how to develop appropriate metrics, and manage the monitoring and performance improvement aspects that are critical to ensuring successful knowledge transfer.     

Professional collaboration to achieve FASHRM and DFASHRM recognition

Members of the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) are undeniably talented. They also share a spirit of volunteerism. Two ASHRM committees are fostering further member collaboration to provide individual growth, enhance educational offerings for members, and strengthen the organization's journal. Though 26% of ASHRM members have attained the CPHRM credential, only 2.5% of ASHRM members have attained a fellow designation. Primary barriers to attaining a fellow designation are the requirements for continuing education and contributions to the risk management field. The organization's Journal Editorial Review Board, in concert with its Annual Conference & Exhibition Committee, encourages members to explore opportunities to write for the Journal, speak at the annual conference, and attain one of the organization's professional designations. In addition, the Barton Certificate Program in Healthcare Risk Management promotes professional development with sessions taught on this topic for new and experienced risk managers.     

Working together,staying focused on our goals

When I was elected president of ASHRM for 2009, I accepted the honor as an opportunity to help ASHRM reach new heights. My goal is to support the objectives and goals consistent with the mission, values, and strategic direction of this organization and to do that with integrity through service, teamwork, and innovation. This is a challenging year for all of us individually, which by extension makes it a challenge for ASHRM. Staying focused on my goal will be difficult, but my intention is to do just that.     

Multistate nurse licensure in case management

To encourage case managers and CM employers to support compliance with multistate nursing licensure, the Case Management Society of America (CMSA) board of directors has revised an earlier position statement on multistate nursing licensure in case management. According to CMSA President Susan Rogers, RN, BSN, CCM, "CMSA's fundamental position on this topic remains unchanged. What's different is a more assertive position in support of appropriate safeguards for our members and case managers nationwide."     

Hospital and physician professional liability trends and industry topics

This article summarizes the findings published in the Aon/ASHRM Hospital and Physician Professional Liability Benchmark Analysis, October 2014. The report analyzes aggregated data from hospital systems and physician groups across the United States that self‐insure their professional liability exposures. Risk managers use the information to identify, measure, and better understand the risks that may affect their organizations.     

Spreading the word about the unique and valuable role of healthcare risk managers

Here I am three‐quarters through my year as president of ASHRM and I am still pinching myself that I am where I am! How has your year been? It has been a tough year for everyone in healthcare. With the Affordable Care Act demands on healthcare and the public, concerns about funding, quality initiatives, and overall potential loss of revenue, it's a wonder we are still in healthcare. But would you be doing anything different? I don't think so. I love that I can help make a difference by assisting staff with a difficult patient or situation or help a patient with a care concern that they are totally frustrated with or explain to a fellow risk manager what I would do in the situation they are dealing with. Although we feel like we are being pulled into new healthcare territories for our insight and recommendations, it is an indication of the value we bring to our organizations. We will get through this and there will be more challenges, but as risk management professionals, we can help solve problems and create value in the upcoming changes in healthcare.     

Analysis of ASHRM membership survey on healthcare captives

This article explores the emergence of captives as a vehicle for managing healthcare risks. In 2006, the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) surveyed a segment of its membership with experience and interest in alternative risk financing about the role of healthcare captives. This article summarizes the findings and generally assesses the responses for opportunities to educate risk managers more fully on the role captives can play in managing risks.     

A civil rights primer for healthcare organizations

"Diversity helps us build a better product for the diverse customers we're serving," says University of Michigan Hospitals' Ellen J. Gaucher. And several healthcare organizations stand out for their efforts to build a diverse workforce. Leaders agree that an atmosphere open to diversity starts at the top. They identify four major steps that board members and senior executives can take to ensure a system that welcomes all racial and ethnic groups into the fold.     

A new year,new opportunities for growth

Reflecting back on my 20 years in risk management, I wonder at times how I got this far. In my first risk position, to my great fortune, my boss Melinda felt it important that I attend the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) Annual Conference. Flying out of San Francisco in 1996 after the conference ended, I was in awe of the wealth of information available to me through this venue. I was grateful for those in our industry willing to share their expertise and engage me in conversation at an event where I didn't know a soul. I was hooked, and have missed just a few Annual Conferences since then.     

The journey and Journal get better every year

As I enter into my presidency, I have been reflecting on the past and when I first learned of ASHRM and everything the society offered. I think of all the past presidents and how much I admired their knowledge and dedication to the profession of healthcare risk management.     

Engaging ‘levers’ to guage success

In 2007, as part of its annual strategic planning process, the ASHRM board was fortunate to have the assistance of Rick Foster, an internationally known management consultant and author. Those of you who have participated in the AHA's Patient Safety Leadership Fellowship program have had the opportunity to work with Rick as he showed you what your Myers Briggs personality assessment results really mean, and how to understand different behavioral tendencies predicted by those assessments.     

Our ASHRM journey continues: ERM for our patients' safety

First and foremost, as your 2013 ASHRM president, I'd like to thank you for all of the significant accomplishments you've helped ASHRM attain this year. And I'll be forever grateful for your support and making my personal and professional dream come true—to serve as your president. Advocating on behalf of all healthcare risk managers and furthering the quest of Getting to Zero for our patients' safety through Enterprise Risk Management, or ERM, has been an honor, because everyone is a risk manager!     

Physicians on board: an examination of physician financial interests in ASCs using longitudinal data

This paper investigates physician financial interests in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) using novel, longitudinal data that identify board members (directors) of ASCs in Florida. Improving on prior research, the estimated models in this paper disentangle physician director selection effects from the causal impact of these financial interests. The data suggest that even prior to their financial interest, physician directors had larger procedure volumes than non-directors. Physician directors also referred more lower-risk patients. On average, ASC board membership led to a 27% increase in a physician's procedure volume and a 16% increase in a physician's colonoscopy volume. Simulations suggest that 5% of the colonoscopies performed in Florida between 1997 and 2004 may have been due to physician ASC board membership. The evidence also suggests that physician directors steered patients from hospitals to their affiliate ASCs. In addition, they referred and/or treated more lower-risk patients as a result of board membership.     

Risk management and legal issues with the use of social media in the healthcare setting

Social media have infiltrated all of our lives, both personally and professionally. Most of us could never have envisioned the impact that social media have had on us, particularly in the healthcare arena. Who would have thought even five years ago that a discussion on the ASHRM exchange would involve the use of Twitter in the operating room or that a physician would be reprimanded by a state medical board and have her privileges revoked due to posting information online about a trauma patient? In the coming years, social media use will only increase, causing concern for risk managers across the continuum. Furthermore, although case law and statutory regulations addressing the use of social media are minimal today, it is anticipated that we will see legal challenges to this evolving medium in the future.