The Impact of Risk Management and the Importance of Effective Incident/ Complaint Reporting

An efficient and effective risk management program is an essential component for home health care agencies today. The rapid growth of home health care, increased patient acuity level, and technological advancement all place home health care providers at an increased risk in terms of liability. The expanding role of managed care raises new concerns in terms of utilization of service and payment. This article will address ways to identify, correct, and prevent risk issues. Key words: incident/complaint reporting, risk management HE RAPID GROWTH of the home care in-~ dustry, the increase in patient acuity level, and technologic advances all place newdemands on home care in terms of liabil-ity. Historically litigation involving home care has been scarce. It stands to reason, however, that there will be an increase in liability and risk as the home care industry expands. The ability to provide more advanced care in the home accompanied by earlier hospital discharges will more than likely become the focus of malpractice claims, and trends will need to be closely monitored.’ Technologic advances in home care often decrease the hospital length of stay but increase the potential for problems to arise in the home. Home care staff must be able to teach patients and caregivers how to provide care and obtain assistance in difficult situa-tions. The lack of a clear understanding by the pa-tient or caregiver as to what services home care is capable of providing may, if expectations are not met, lead to litigation.