Not Just Knowledge, But Experience
The Program's Risk Managers Make Their Mark on Risk Management

The Risk Management department at Professional Risk Management Services, Inc., manager of The Psychiatrists' Program, is staffed by experienced professionals with legal and clinical backgrounds who understand the clinical situations as well as the legal and risk management issues faced by psychiatrists. We recently asked Program risk managers to comment on how they have "made their mark" on risk management.

Jacqueline M. Melonas, RN, MS, JD
Vice President, Risk Management
I think the people who "make their mark" and have the largest potential for having an impact on risk management and patient safety are all the psychiatrists and other healthcare professionals who treat and care for patients everyday. It's our mission to support those clinicians with the information and resources they need to avoid professional liability problems - that's how we can make our mark in promoting risk management.

One area where we have an opportunity to provide this support is through our talks on psychiatric-specific risk management topics at educational seminars sponsored by PRMS, Inc. and as guest speakers at other professional programs. Sometimes the best risk management solutions come when the psychiatrists in attendance begin to discuss the issues and share strategies that have worked for them. At a recent talk about psychopharmacology and liability issues, a psychiatrist shared her approach to talking to patients and families about medications. She has found this approach to be useful in managing unrealistic expectations and increasing some patients' responsibility in relation to their medication regime. Several attendees commented that this gave them some new ideas about ways to talk to patients about medications that could improve patients' adherence to the treatment plan. At another program, the question and answer session provided an opportunity for psychiatrists in attendance to share ideas about systems utilized in their private practices for making sure that blood work, other diagnostic testing and clinical monitoring is done on a timely basis and to insure follow-up of lab results - an important patient safety activity.

We'll continue to make our mark in risk management by providing educational programs that are practical and informative and that stimulate discussion about increasing the effectiveness of risk management strategies.

Donna Vanderpool, MBA, JD
Assistant Vice President, Risk Management
I think one of the many ways that we have made our mark on risk management is by aggressively informing our psychiatrists about the implications and requirements of the HIPAA regulations, particularly the Privacy Rule. We began researching the regulatory requirements and publishing our interpretations of those requirements in 2001, years before the compliance date in 2003. We thought it was important to provide comprehensive resources and compliance tools for not only those psychiatrists required to comply with the regulations, but also for those not technically required to comply - because the Privacy Rule is a floor of minimum confidentiality protections that all psychiatrists may expect to be judged by. Our Privacy Rule articles have been published in several healthcare publications, as well as in a legal journal. Additionally, starting in 2001, we've been invited to speak nationally on HIPAA's impact on psychiatrists.

Marynell Hinton, MA
Senior Risk Manager
I think we have made our mark by consciously reframing the traditional approach to risk management education. We have tried to avoid a narrow, fear-based approach that focuses on lawsuit prevention - a negative approach to learning that breeds an antagonistic mentality in both physicians and patients. Instead, we have chosen to focus on the ways in which risk management serves to support patient care, particularly by emphasizing on-going communication - a positive approach that encourages a therapeutic relationship between physicians and patients.

Charles David Cash, JD, LLM
Senior Risk Manager
I think we make our mark every day with our Risk Management Consultation Service. The Service offers "real time" risk management as often events are unfolding as we're speaking to the psychiatrist. Sometimes a psychiatrist calls because he or she has discovered a true quagmire. Often, the calling psychiatrist already has formulated a plan of action and is seeking feedback. Callers say that just having a risk manager available to listen and offer suggestions is a great comfort. At the end of the day, we make our mark one phone call at a time.

For information on upcoming risk management seminars, including online registration, please visit the National Risk Management Seminars page.