Risks are an everyday occurrence in healthcare. But how do you know which ones to prioritize?
In post-acute care, risks include medication management, patient falls, staff burnout, protecting personal health information, and more. Some risks are frequent but low impact, while others are rare but potentially life-threatening.
That’s where risk management comes in. With the right strategies and tools, your team can focus on high-impact, high-likelihood risks—and reduce harm before it happens. Here’s how healthcare professionals can identify, prioritize, and reduce risks to ensure safer care for patients, staff, and their organizations.
Understanding Risk in Healthcare
Risk management in healthcare is the process of identifying potential hazards, assessing how likely and severe they are, and taking steps to minimize their effects.
A structured risk management approach can help you:
- Reduce the chances of avoidable harm
- Improve documentation and compliance
- Enhance team communication and decision-making
- Increase patient and staff satisfaction
The Risk Management Process
Risk management typically follows a cycle:
- Identify. Spot potential risks like equipment malfunctions or patient falls.
- Assess. Ask how likely the risk is to happen and how serious the impact could be.
- Respond. Take appropriate action to reduce, eliminate, or manage the risk.
- Monitor. Track whether your interventions are working and adjust if needed.
This process is continuous—and everyone on the team has a role to play.
Focusing on Risks That Matter Most
So how do you decide which risks to act on first?
One effective tool is a likelihood and impact matrix, which helps you weigh two factors:
- How often could this risk occur? (likelihood)
- How serious are the consequences if it does? (impact)
Risks that score high on both are your top priority.
For example: Patient falls are common in populations of older adults with limited mobility, poor balance, and cognitive impairments. Falls can cause serious injuries, decreased independence, and hospital stays.
By using this tool to prioritize risks, teams can focus their energy where it matters most.
Real-World Example: Missed Documentation
Imagine a home health nurse visits a patient with a pressure sore and notices signs of increased drainage. She plans to update the patient’s medical record but gets called to another urgent visit and forgets. The next nurse is unaware of the changes and doesn’t monitor the wound closely.
This is both a clinical and compliance risk. It could lead to patient harm and legal consequences.
Organizations could address this risk many ways, including using checklists or electronic reminders for documentation, handoff tools to communicate during shift changes, and quality assurance processes or audits to monitor documentation trends and find root causes of problems.
Tools That Help Reduce Risk
In addition to checklists and communication strategies, healthcare organizations can use other tools to address potential concerns:
- Risk registers. This central log tracks identified risks and how they’re being addressed.
- Incident reports. Written or electronic records help teams identify patterns or weak spots.
- SWOT analysis. Using a framework of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, this planning tool helps evaluate internal and external factors that affect risk.
- QAPI Programs – With quality improvement and performance improvement (QAPI) processes, teams can catch and correct problems early.
Common Areas of Risk in Post-Acute Care
While every organization is different, these risk categories often top the list of concern:
- Patient safety. Falls, pressure sores, and medication errors can be serious and are important to actively prevent.
- Infection control. Preventing the spread of infection protects patients and staff and is especially important for those who are immunocompromised.
- Staffing issues and burnout. High turnover and fatigue can increase mistakes.
- Data security. Protecting personal health information is required under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
- Emergency preparedness. Power outages and natural disasters must be prepared for so that staff are ready to provide continued care.
- Consent and cognitive issues. It is important to assess the ability of individuals, especially those with dementia, to understand and consent to care.
Reducing Risk Through Action
Once a risk is identified, your team can respond using one or more of these common strategies:
- Avoidance: Eliminate the risk entirely (e.g., stop using unsafe equipment).
- Reduction: Minimize the chance or impact of harm through strategies like better training and new protocols.
- Transfer: Shift the risk to external entities, such as insurance or third-party vendors.
- Acceptance: Acknowledge low-impact risks and monitor them.
Importantly, any response should include:
- Prevention through steps like educating staff, establishing protocols, and creating a culture of safety
- Correction by taking fast action after an event to minimize further harm
- Documentation through clear, objective records for compliance and learning
- Education, including ongoing training to reinforce safe practices
Leadership and Culture Matter
Reducing risk isn’t just about paperwork—it’s about people. Leadership must prioritize safety, encourage transparent reporting, and support continuous learning. A “just culture” helps staff speak up about near-misses and challenges without fear of punishment.
If you haven’t already, consider adding short, regular “safety huddles” to your team’s schedule. These quick check-ins can highlight concerns and keep risk top of mind.
Final Thoughts: Everyone Has a Role
Reducing risk isn’t just for managers or nurses. It’s a team effort. Whether you’re assisting with personal care, maintaining equipment, or managing a care plan, your actions support patient safety every day. By focusing on risks that are both likely and serious, you help create a safer, more resilient organization.
Showd.me can help deliver the essential training post-acute care providers need to boost risk prevention and promote a culture of safety for patients, residents, and staff. Best of all, we take on all the administrative burdens that come with managing annual training, so you’re team can be more hands-on when it comes to risk management. Click here to see how we’re helping post-acute care providers save time, reduce internal training costs and ensure compliance, all without having to manage a thing.
