The Legality of Risk Management in Healthcare (United States) Essay

The Legality of Risk Management in Healthcare (United States) - Essay Example Dr. Harris diagnosed the patient with pneumonia and impending respiratory failure. She thought of intubating the patient herself on the floor, but then decided against it and handed over the patient to a pulmonologist and intensivist. The patient suffered intense and seemingly irreversible brain damage. After a few months had elapsed, the relatives of the patient consulted a legal counselor and came to the conclusion that the patient had suffered due to malpractice. Dr. Harris was held accountable. The case was settled by giving compensatory damages to the plaintiff. The end of the paper has an executive summary analyzing the case. The history of risk management in health care goes as far as four thousand years. The Babylonians were famous for punishing their medical practitioners if they were involved in any malpractice or if their negligence had incurred any physical or metal harm to the ill. The increased incidence of malpractice during the 1970s had a seminal effect on how the legislations that were made regarding health care. Health care providers found themselves in a quandary. The money-intensive lawsuits that had been filed against them was not only a huge financial burden, but also compromised their reputation. They were also faced with the possibility of losing their license. Therefore risk management became all the more important, with agencies using both financial resources and specialized risk management staff to ensure patient safety and higher standard of professional conduct for health care practitioners. Risk management in health care is defined as the systematic management of administrative and clinical processes to prevent uncertainties and potential dangers and to mitigate the risk of the institution’s exposure to liability if loss occurs. Risk management can come into play in case of mal practice. The Joint Commission (2010) defines mal practice as the â€Å"improper or unethical