At 5:45 this morning, I googled “Challenges that Hospital CEO’s Face.” In 0.53 seconds, the search returned 3,600,000 results.   By 6:20, I realized that I could write a 3,600,000 word blog by just naming problems.  Needless to say, there are plenty of challenges.  In my research, the top five most common challenges included: Financial Challenges Physician/Hospital Relationships Personnel + Talent Shortage Legislation Perpetuation Planning + Leadership Succession Each one of these risks can put you out of business if you do not manage well. Who and/or how can these risks be effectively managed?   What about the other 3,599,995 risks your facility … Continue reading

According to a 2010 study by PGP Corporation and the Ponemon Institute,the average cost of a data breach is north of $200 per record. As the delivery of healthcare continues to evolve, the system of care becomes more digital in nature. Examples of technology include: Smart phones – physician to physician and physician to patient communication Email IPad’s Laptops|tablet computers Video chat Robotics Electronic health records Information exchanges Wired + wireless networks Metadata What will tomorrow, the next five years, or the next ten years bring? Most would agree the answer will in one way or another include new technologies that have not … Continue reading

Over the past four weeks I have shared four ways of managing risk.  the first being prevention, the second being mitigation, the third being transfering and finally ways to assume risk. In the video above, I will share thoughts with you about the financing of risk with an insurance policy or through an alternative risk vehicle. To learn more about financing risk, contact Kelly Reed  |  906.315.7227  |  kellyr@vastsolution.com.  

Over the past three weeks we’ve discussed ways for your organization to manage risk.  The first week we discussed prevention strategies, then mitigation or minimizing risks, followed by transferring risk away from your organization.  This week, we will focus on the assumption of risk or choosing to assume risk within your insurance portfolio or outside of your insurance portfolio. What we have found through our analysis of many businesses is that most businesses will take on a significant amount of risk in one area, yet they take on very little risk in other areas of their business.  What we help … Continue reading

Over the past few weeks I’ve posted about different ways of managing risk within an organization.  The first week was about concepts and strategies around prevention.  Last week the topic was about how to mitigate or minimize a loss after an adverse situation occurs.  This week, I will discuss ways of transferring risk away from your organization.  What do I mean by transferring risk?  How do we take a risk that poses a threat to your company and transfer it to another company, vehicle or entity? EXAMPLE #1 – A strong certificate management plan.  Insuring that each subcontractor or independent … Continue reading

Last week I spoke about Prevention of Risk, this week I will discuss how to mitigate or minimize the impact of an adverse event if and when it occurs.  An example of how we might help you with that at VAST would be in a work comp situation.  When an employee is injured our goal is to get them back to work as soon as they are medically able to do so.  This helps the organization in several ways: It assists the employee in their recovery and helps them earn their full wage. It lifts the morale of the rest … Continue reading

In this week’s blog Kelly Reed begins a five part series on how to proactively manage risk.  The first is through the prevention of risk.  This can be accomplished in three ways: education, communication and by having a great culture within your organization. Education – Education can come in many different forms including: webinars, live seminars, podcasts and email blasts to name a few.  What we recommend is a personal development plan for key people within your organization.  This plan should be tailored to each individual and provide the education that they need to help your organization and to grow … Continue reading

What will tomorrow bring?  The ability to predict the future would be quite special, but how about an educated prediction based on data from other industries, the pace of change, and emerging trends in healthcare.  My prediction is “all patients will be able to obtain information (past disciplinary actions, medical malpractice history, personal information, etc…) in one fashion or another about their healthcare providers.” I say this for three main reasons: Transparency – in virtually every industry and all spaces of our lives we are becoming more transparent.   For example – Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, MySpace, LinkedIn, … Continue reading

When considering a potential change in Medical Professional Liability carrier, there are many things to think about.  A traditional approach is to build a RFP and identify what items are needed|required from your future carrier and what information you would like to know about the carrier: A.M. Best rating Price of the product Limits of liability Percentage of claims settled vs. cases tried Historical experience in my state, region, and county With a Supreme Court decision pending, I believe it is safe to say that healthcare is in a state of uncertainty and is constantly changing.  Uncertainty and change yield the creation of … Continue reading

Recent years have brought about an interesting shift in Medical Professional Liability programs for health systems.  Now more than ever, health systems are employing physicians.   Whether it is to improve the coordination of care or private practices aligning closer with a system due to the threat of decreasing reimbursements, it appears the future will yield more employed physicians than ever before.   What does this mean for risk?  The following thoughts are meant to challenge your thinking to see how the risks of the past differ from those of the future There are two primary areas of risk a health system … Continue reading