Healthcare risk managers work hard to identify patient safety hazards, assess the level and type of risk, control or remove potential harm and loss triggers, monitor risks and improve performance.  With their eyes on patient safety and internal risk management activities, a few things sometimes fall through the cracks because they are out of sight, and out of mind.  We have identified three mistakes risk managers make and how to avoid them.  This is the first:

Don’t leave money on the table.

Did you know most medical malpractice and healthcare professional liability carriers have money set aside to pay for clinical risk management services or to reimburse their policyholders for products and services designed to improve patient safety, reduce risk, and control losses.  However, many risk managers don’t take advantage of this fact because they narrowly equate risk management with carrier driven onsite risk assessments or they forget that it’s there.  That’s a mistake. 

If your clients are afraid that the carriers are looking over your shoulders, tell them “Don’t be.”  According to OmniSure Consulting Group, many carriers won’t even see the work product.  They are interested in knowing that their policyholders are proactively reducing risk with all that has been made available to them. That says the policyholder cares about the outcome.

Don’t think that there is any advantage to letting the budgeted funds sit there. Your clients won’t pay less next year for “saving” the carrier money.  If anything, they’ll pay less next year in the way of risk management credits to their rates if they do spend it on patient safety, quality, and risk management consulting.  It’s truly a case of use it or lose it.  As a trusted insurance broker, the best advice you can give your clients: use it.

VIDEO Tip – Leaving Money on the Table