6 CLINICAL RISK MANAGEMENT


HRMR January 2015


For Ann Lambrecht, clinical risk management consultant for Coverys, risk management is about learning, evolving and providing creative solutions. She spoke to HRMR about the hot issues facing her clients today.


THE LEARNING CURVE T


he major issues facing risk managers in 2015 are manifold, but two stand head and shoulders above the rest.


Ann Lambrecht, clinical risk management consultant for Coverys, has seen her clients repeatedly seek help for issues surrounding the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) as healthcare providers across the US seek to comply with these pieces of legislation.


Where HIPAA is concerned, the main questions relate to achieving confidentiality and security, while EMTALA’s implications for screening examinations when patients arrive in the emergency room raise liability issues and the possibility of sanctions and penalties. Other hot topics include caring for behavioral


health patients—which is overwhelmingly a clinical issue—and the national opioid prescription overdose crisis. After more than 20 years in risk management, Lambrecht has become used


www.hrmronline.com


to change. A qualified attorney and nurse, her risk management career has included stints at a large Michigan health system, a regional medical center, and several insurance companies—most recently at Coverys, where she serves hospitals, health systems and large physician practices to assist them in developing and implementing clinical risk reduction strategies. During the course of her career she has seen


healthcare risk management become more heavily regulated than ever. There has been


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17