Determining a risk management staffing model.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Administration
• Risk Management
• Organizational Staffing

Background:

• Healthcare organizations face challenges in maintaining adequate risk management staffing levels.
• Existing staffing models may not fully support the core functions of risk management departments.
• Optimizing personnel allocation is crucial for enhancing risk management efficacy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if a par level staffing model, incorporating nonclinical roles, can improve clinical risk manager focus on core functions.
• To establish recommended risk management staffing levels for Trinity Health Insurance and Risk Management Services (IRMS).
• To enhance the overall efficacy of risk management departments within healthcare organizations.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Howard and Felton model to evaluate risk management staffing based on core functions and workload.
• Conducted a 2-week time study with 18 Risk Managers across 13 acute care hospitals.
• Quantified time spent on core risk management functions and identified optimal role distribution.

Main Results:

• Established a recommended baseline staffing level of one risk manager full-time equivalent (FTE) per 6650 monthly average adjusted patient days (APD).
• Developed a work distribution model recommending a 70% clinical and 30% nonclinical split of risk management FTEs.
• Quantified time requirements for core risk management functions to inform staffing decisions.

Conclusions:

• The developed staffing model can enable clinical risk managers to concentrate on essential duties, thereby improving departmental effectiveness.
• Healthcare organizations can adapt this methodology to assess and optimize their own risk management staffing.
• Implementing a balanced clinical and nonclinical staffing approach is key to efficient risk management operations.