HIROC presents risk management to future healthcare providers
Friday, June 1, 2007 -- Jason Thompson
In 2006, the Healthcare Insurance Reciprocal of Canada (HIROC) partnered with several colleges and universities to deliver presentations on common risk management and patient safety themes and practices.

Arlene Kraft, HIROC’s risk management manager, says the presentations were well received and the partnerships would expand in 2007 as HIROC has been invited to speak to more schools and organizations.

The presentations were delivered by both in-person and via video-conferencing by HIROC’s risk management staff.

Kraft says the presentations are an example of HIROC partnering to create the safest healthcare system.

“It was to make the students and other healthcare professionals aware of the issues that are occurring in today’s health environment as far as risk and patient safety go,” Kraft says.

“HIROC is trying to work with different schools and associations to get that word out as well as partner with them to see how we can work together to decrease the risk and increase patient safety.”

According to her testimonial, Dr. Leanne Harper-Femson, in the nursing department at Ryerson University in Toronto, was “pleased” with the presentation. She submitted a written testimonial to HIROC following one of the presentations.

“(The presentation) assists in broadening nurses’ critical and analytical perspectives. This presentation was helpful to students as concepts were presented through the practical application of case studies,” Harper-Femson wrote.

“A must for students as they graduate.”

Because the information in the presentations is derived from claims submitted to HIROC from its subscribers, Kraft says students are getting the most recent data.

Kraft explains they provided case studies for the groups they spoke with. "If we are speaking, for example, with nursing students we would provide them with cases that had to do with nursing,” she says.

“To give them theory is nice but when you actually explain to them what happens in real case scenarios, it really comes to light and they tend to understand it a little bit better.”

The presentations also introduced HIROC and provided students with a risk management primer and insight on risk management philosophy. Students were also told that as future healthcare providers, they will have an important role to play in identifying risk and communicating it throughout their organization.

“We’ve been invited back and word has gotten around. (Other colleges and universities) have contacted us to speak with them,” Kraft says.