18: ASSESSMENT OF EXISTENCE OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF CLINICAL RISK MANAGEMENT IN HOSPITALS

Abstract

Background and aims: At present, modern advances in health care, serious deficiencies have been identified in the quality of care and patients' safety. One way to handle these challenges is the establishment of a clinical risk management (CRM) system. This approach would improve the quality of healthcare and help ensure the safety of patients, visitors, and employees, as well as reduce the costs associated with the healthcare system. The aim of this study was to assess the existence of the requirements of CRM in the hospitals. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 200 clinical staff members from three teaching hospitals affiliated with the Kerman University of Medical Sciences in southeast Iran in 2014. The proportionate simple random sampling technique was used. Two tools were used for data collection, i.e., a structured observation checklist and a questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: Among the six domains of CRM, the highest mean belonged to domain the monitoring of analysis, evaluation and risk control (3.18±0.72).; the lowest mean belonged to domain the staff's knowledge, recognition and understanding of CRM (2.93±0.66). The findings indicated that implementing and developing domains of CRM ranged from poor to moderate. Almost all of study settings were implementing most measures of CRM. Despite these initiatives, there were no incident report forms in patients' files; electronic systems, such as Patient Safety Information Systems (PSIS); or the Patient Safety Reporting System (PSRS). Conclusion: Despite the establishment of clinical governance and accreditation approaches, the status of CRM is not appropriate. Health care in southeast Iran is not moving enough towards high quality and safe practice. Health care should move toward quality improvement and safe practice through the effective integration of CRM in organizational process. The organizational leaders must facilitate this process by creating necessary institutional infrastructures and strategic planning, management systems, and reinforcement of teamwork and professional communication to build positive attitudes among care providers towards strategies accreditation and clinical governance.