Call police, do not refer abuse cases to peer review
Risk managers should remind employees that calling the police can be the right thing to do, says Grena Porto, RN, MS, ARM, CPHRM, principal with QRS Healthcare Consulting in Hockessin, DE, and former president of the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) in Chicago.
As in the Penn State sex scandal, in which a coach says he notified his university superiors rather than calling police when he witnessed a boy being raped, Porto says healthcare employees must understand that a crime is a crime. Calling your boss shouldn't always be the first priority.
"This is not like something you report for peer review," she says. "These were people who suspected a man was sexually abusing little babies. Why didn't they just call the police? If I'm your risk manager, and you tell me you thought someone was raping a child in the examination room, I'm going to be livid that you didn't call the police instead of sending me a memo the next day."
Another important lesson is that healthcare administrators should be willing to believe parents when they report suspicions of abuse, Porto says. In some cases of healthcare abuse, parents' concerns were dismissed because administrators assumed the doctor was above reproach and the parents were out to get money from the hospital, she says. "Any complaint like this in which there is even a risk of illegal behavior has to be reported to law enforcement," she says. "They are the only ones with the skills and objectivity to do a thorough investigation. In all the cases I've seen, that never happens. The allegations are reviewed internally, and that is grossly inappropriate."
Do not ever refer such cases to peer review, Porto says. The peer review process is inappropriate and will always yield a "no finding" type of conclusion, because the peer review committee is incapable and unwilling to conduct such an investigation, she says. But that "no finding" report will be used by the accused as evidence that the hospital investigated and found nothing to act on.
Porto says she is surprised that criminal charges against healthcare employees or administrators who suspected abuse have not yet been brought in a sexual abuse case.
"I'm surprised no one has been criminally charged, but I don't think the last word has been written on that," Porto says. "I think people at the hospital, people he worked with, should be worried. They not only didn't do anything about the hospital, but they allowed it to continue. That's aiding and abetting a criminal."
Risk managers should remind employees that calling the police can be the right thing to do, says Grena Porto, RN, MS, ARM, CPHRM, principal with QRS Healthcare Consulting in Hockessin, DE, and former president of the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) in Chicago.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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