Risk management in the clinical laboratory

Introduction

Risk is defined as effect of uncertainty on objectives – ISO 31000. Risk is an uncertain future event which could have a material impact on the achievement of objectives or success.  In the context of organizational management, risk has been described as a multidimensional concern about stability and predictability of outcome. Organizational risk involves components that affect the operational, technical, liability and business aspects of the laboratory. In the context of continual improvement, the risk elements of potential for loss are considered with higher priority than the elements of gain. Consideration of risk necessarily includes the linked but different elements of likelihood of occurrence and severity of impact. Factors that impact upon risk can act either directly or indirectly. The Risk Management Framework is a set of components that provide the foundations and organizational arrangements for identifying and reducing unanticipated adverse events and other safety risks to patients, staff and visitors.

The risk management framework provides a clear and structured approach to identifying risks and also includes strategies and techniques for recognizing and confronting organizational threats.

Essential components of the framework are: risk identification; risk prioritization; risk reporting; risk management; investigation of adverse events; and management of related claims

The framework of risk management can be described as consisting of the following steps:

1. Planning for risk
2. Identifying risk and its impacts
3. Developing risk-handling strategies
4. Monitoring for risk control

Thus, every healthcare urgently requires realizing needs to fully and more effectively incorporate “risk” as a crucial component of their management.

For medical laboratory professionals and laboratory directors, Risk Management is an essential discipline as it is their accountability to understand and monitor the vast number of guidelines and rules governing laboratory testing. Thus, trainees will acquire complete understanding of risk management with a clinical laboratory viewpoint to display how risk management can advance the quality of care we give patients.

Duration: 3 days   

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Define “risk” and discuss reasons why risk management is significant in healthcare.
• Identify laboratory and hospital accrediting bodies and regulations that impact laboratory risk management.
• Identify risk management concerns related to the laboratory’s preanalytic, analytic, and postanalytic stages of testing.
• Describe some of the tools used in risk management procedures.

Who to attend?

This program is designed as an educational and training tool for MLS, MT, and MLT personnel, medical laboratory science students and interns, pathology residents, and practicing pathologists.

Methodology

Our professional team has designed sessions that are competency-based using interactive teaching methods that will extensively your laboratory personnel through skills and understanding on effective identification of risks and employing precise control measures to reduce the risks in the pre-analytical, analytical, and post-analytical processes.

• Introduction to Risk Management
•  The risk management process
•  Conformance to Consensus standards
•  Failure Mode Effect and Analysis (FMEA)
•  Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
•  Hazard Vulnerability Analysis (HVA)
•  System approach to Error Reduction
•  Corrective Action and Preventive Action (CAPA) & Continual Improvement
•  Human factors (Error detection and Reporting)
•  Performance Monitoring – Quality Control plan