Reducing Exposure to Sexual Abuse and Molestation (SAM) Claims in Healthcare
Sexual abuse and molestation events in healthcare are devastating to patients and organizations alike. Claims are growing more frequent and severe to the point where it is affecting insurability. Healthcare providers need to implement strong policies and procedures to protect their patients from harm and protect themselves from the possibility of massive settlements.
This Risk Strategies blog explains the impact on the insurance industry and renewals. It also outlines several strategies to reduce risk to your patients and organization. Strong policies and culture of safety, such as the use of chaperones, staff training, and clear reporting channels are a necessity.
This article falls under Clinical/Patient Safety and Legal/Regulatory 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.
Legal/Regulatory
Risk within this domain incorporates the failure to identify, manage and monitor legal, regulatory, and statutory mandates on a local, state and federal level. Such risks are generally associated with fraud and abuse, licensure, accreditation, product liability, management liability, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Conditions of Participation (CoPs) and Conditions for Coverage (CfC), as well as issues related to intellectual property.