Hiding in plain sight: Why are we worried about Ebola and not sepsis?

Sepsis kills more people in the United States than breast cancer, heart attacks, and the next two leading diseases combined. It is the leading cause of readmissions and for treatment costs exceeding twice that of the next most expensive condition. Survivors frequently suffer amputations and postsepsis syndrome, spending years on treatment and medication to recover. One in 150 people will be directly affected by sepsis, compared to the 1 in 33 million chance that a US resident would contact Ebola. We now have federal funding and a structured framework to treat Ebola, yet nothing exists to address sepsis even though the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reported spending $20 billion in 2011 treating its symptoms for Medicare and Medicaid patients. How do we continue to miss sepsis as a risk management emergency?     

Transformational change: Moving toward enterprise risk management through the Power of One™

My oldest daughter, Julia, graduated from high school in June of this year. She leaves for college in the fall. It's not easy letting go; change is hard. Transformational change is harder still. Fortunately, she is being launched into the world with some good principles to help her focus: Be kind to your neighbor. Make the world a better place.     

Cyber risk and privacy liability: A click in the right direction¿

Cyber risk and privacy exposure exert an impact upon virtually every aspect of a healthcare organization (HCO) — assets, clinical operations, finances and reputation. Exposure is enterprise‐wide and includes risk to both physical and non‐physical assets in increasing degrees. The consequences of a cyber attack or privacy breach could be operationally and financially catastrophic, so an HCO's move toward an enterprise‐wide approach at identifying and minimizing risk, cyber and privacy liability should be on the radar screen for risk managers and leadership.     

Including patients in root cause and system failure analysis: Legal and psychological implications

The act of open disclosure of an adverse event alone may not be enough for patients or their families. Patients and patient advocates are asking for increased transparency and a greater role in the process of change. When properly handled, involving patients in post‐event analysis allows risk management professionals to further improve their organization's systems analysis process while empowering patients to be part of the solution. This article examines the legal and psychological considerations surrounding the involvement of patients in system failure analysis and provides tools for selecting patients who are able to benefit from this process and for adequately preparing patients and caregivers for what lies ahead.