AABB24: Optimal Preparedness is Key in Effective Risk Management

Although some fields have long-standing formal processes for risk assessment and mitigation, in some workplaces those processes have only recently been applied. The disciplines that are now building expertise in risk management include laboratory and transfusion medicine. Risk management is required in all AABB Standards as part of the quality system essentials.

Where Do We Start?

Attendees at the Tuesday morning session, “Managing Risk, Maximizing Safety: The Essentials of Proactive Risk Assessment,” learned that for any activity conducted by a health care facility, unexpected events will occur that affect the desired outcome of the activity. Therefore, proactive identification, evaluation and mitigation of potential risks are crucial to this quality effort. Faisal Alsaqri, MSc, CLBSSB, from the King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, provided definitions, key concepts, practical examples and mitigation strategies to help attendees better understand proactive risk assessment.

Why It Matters

Being proactive matters because it gives a facility advance notice of ways that an intended outcome can be negatively affected—in time to prevent it from happening. As Alsaqri described, exploring risks before they happen is beneficial in several ways:

• Ensures patient safety and product quality.
• Maintains regulatory compliance.
• Optimizes processes and workflows.
• Enhances disaster preparedness.
• Ensures operational continuity.
• Protects personnel.

He further described five important steps for effective risk assessment:

• Define and prepare
• Identify hazards and risks
• Evaluate and prioritize risks
• Control and mitigate risks
• Monitor and review

For each step, Alsaqri listed specific tasks that could aid in completion.

Useful Tools Presented

Perhaps the most challenging of the five steps is the central one—evaluate and prioritize the risks identified. Alsaqri shared a matrix of risk severity and the likelihood of occurrence that assigns numerical values to the various combinations of two key considerations: likelihood and severity. He continued with suggested actions that could be taken for each numerical ranking of risks determined to be low, medium, high and extreme.

Hilary Brown, MLT(ASCP), from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston continued the presentation by describing a risk assessment template. She also walked the attendees through several examples of the template being used to assess processes, equipment or activities in blood transfusion and cellular therapy scenarios. She noted that risk assessment should be characterized by commitment of facility leadership, continuous monitoring/review and an ability of the process to ensure donor and patient safety and operational excellence.

Both speakers provided helpful guidance during the question-and-answer period that concluded the session.