Presented by: The Role of Risk Management Risk managers will play a critical role and face new challenges in the redesigned healthcare landscape.

Certainly, the risk manager’s purview is going to change, I would think dramatically, once the consolidation that we anticipate occurs.

Diane Pinakiewicz, National Patient Safety Foundation

Risk managers already play a major role in promoting effective patient safety programs, and this work will grow in importance as healthcare organizations assume responsibility for managing care – and risk – across a large population of patients.

Risk managers will struggle to deal with contractual exposures as disparate providers join together in ACOs, as well as other new healthcare structures.

For an ACO to successfully manage risk, it must have an integrated design so that the economic interests of the parties are fully aligned. It will be easier to identify and manage the risks of an ACO formed by a hospital that hires physicians than for an ACO formed by virtue of a contract between separate organizations, such as a hospital, a physician group, and a third-party administrator.

From a broader perspective, risk managers will be key players in changing the culture of healthcare delivery organizations so that they become more efficient, embrace evidence-based practices, and adapt to reimbursement systems that pay for safety and quality instead of volume.

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