A Coordinated Response to Patient Reports of Abuse and Assault
Allegations of abuse and assault against care team members pose significant legal, reputational, and regulatory risk to healthcare organizations. Healthcare risk managers play a critical role in preventing and responding to these allegations and must stay current with best practices.
An ASHRM article published in 2026, Addressing Patient Allegations of Abuse and Assault: The Critical Role of Risk Management and Investigation, emphasizes the critical role healthcare risk managers play in responding to patient allegations of abuse and assault through timely escalation, trauma-informed investigations, and coordinated communication strategies. The piece highlights the importance of clearly defined reporting workflows, staff education, and organizational response protocols to protect patients, support compliance obligations, and reduce reputational and liability risk. For additional guidance, please refer to our Practice Tip, Incorporating Chaperones During Patient Examinations.
This article falls under Clinical/Patient Safety and Operational in the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) risk domains.
Clinical/Patient Safety
Risks associated with the delivery of care to residents, patients and other healthcare customers. Clinical risks include: failure to follow evidence based practice, medication errors, hospital acquired conditions (HAC), serious safety events (SSE), and others.
Operational
The business of healthcare is the delivery of care that is safe, timely, effective, efficient, and patient-centered within diverse populations. Operational risks relate to those risks resulting from inadequate or failed internal processes, people, or systems that affect business operations. Included are risks related to: adverse event management, credentialing and staffing, documentation, chain of command, and deviation from practice.