Risk management in medicine: the process of identification, assessment and control of risks in medical practice

Abstract

Risks accompany any activity of a person, company, or country throughout life. The healthcare industry is no exception, given the constant difficult situations that occur with patients, medical personnel, and healthcare facilities in general. All risks in medical practice can be divided into different groups according to the object in the risk zone: general risks (economic, financial, environmental, military, etc.), specific risks aimed at the patient (diagnostic, therapeutic, pharmacotherapeutic, etc.), and specific risks aimed at the healthcare employee (working conditions, contact with hazardous infections, etc.). Risk governance is one of the prio rities of healthcare institutions in achieving their goals because there is always a chance that something will go wrong, not as it was planned. In the field of healthcare, as in other industries, to assess and analyze the risks one can use risk matrices. These matrices allow for quantitative, semi-quantitative, and qualitative risk analysis. The latter makes it possible to develop the right strategy for responding to and mitigating those risks. This study aims to conduct comprehensive research of the risk stages in medical practice, as well as to provide detailed recommendations for risk analysis and emphasize the importance of corporate risk governance in healthcare activities. The authors analyzed the data collected since 2013. It has been found that the study of the overall risk level assigned to each incident helps to determine the urgency and degree of control measures required.