The increasing amount of public data on healthcare organizations might bring lawsuits using that information against you, so it would be wise to prepare yourself for how those claims might take shape.
For example, plaintiffs’ attorneys are eager to admit into evidence conditions of participation (CoPs) as the standard of care, so risk managers should study them now, suggests Jeffrey Smith, senior vice president and healthcare leader with Lockton, a risk management consulting firm based in Atlanta.
Risk managers will need a basic knowledge of CoPs and need to understand whether and to what extent they have the expertise and authority to manage those risks, Smith says.
Regarding other types of publicly available data, he suggests risk managers answer these questions as a way to prepare for the lawsuits they might produce:
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Who within the organization monitors the publicly available hospital and physician data and the Hospital Compare and Physician Compare websites?
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Are the quality or performance improvement strategies of the organization tied to the public data?
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Is physician data taken into account when hiring or credentialing physicians?
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Is risk management involved in survey readiness preparations?
