Partner with Nurse Practitioners as Risk Managers to Control Rising Liability Claims

October 30, 2013 | Strategic Insights for Health System

Preview

Risk managers need to reach out to nurse practitioners in their organizations and “make them a partner with you in risk management,” said Lauran Cutler, RN, B.S.N., CPHRM, risk control consulting director, CNA Healthcare Risk Control, at the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management’s annual conference in Austin, Texas, October 27 to October 30, 2013. Summarizing data from a closed claims analysis conducted by CNA of liability claims involving nurse practitioners from January 1, 2007, through December 31, 2011, Cutler said the average indemnity payment was about $222,000 for the 200 claims that met the inclusion criteria for the analysis. “These are high claims,” she said, with the average payment climbing 19% since a previous analysis from 2009. The three principal allegations—diagnostic issues, such as failure to diagnose; treatment and care decisions, such as failure to respond to a patient’s concerns; and medication and prescribing issues, such as a wrong medication or dose—represented 89% of all claims.

Access Full Content

Contact us today at 610.825.6000.