Creating a Win-Win in Clinical Outcomes and Loss Prevention

From its inception, CHI has worked proactively with each owner to reduce liability by improving clinical outcomes. Obstetrical (OB) claims, for example, once accounted for 62 percent of claims dollars. CHI became one of the first health care professional liability insurance carriers to create an initiative aimed at reducing OB risk and improving quality. The results of this cutting-edge initiative were astounding.

Before the obstetrical care initiative, CHI hospitals were paying $504 per delivery for claims. By 2007, that number plummeted to a historical low of $28. Today, the cost per delivery is $33. Analysis of claims data and industry best practices remains a cornerstone of the CHI risk management program today. “We saved money, but more importantly, we saved lives because of the reduction in medical errors. That alone makes our risk management program a tremendous success.” says Jeffry Sousa, past CHI president (1997–2013.)

Expanding on its effective clinical risk management efforts, CHI has incorporated Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) into its risk management focus for owner organizations. ERM encompasses CHI owners’ entire organizations and looks to establish best risk management practices in all areas of operation.

B. Konard Jones, President/CEO of NorthBay Healthcare, appreciates this support: “As a fairly small health care organization, we have to maximize every angle. We can’t employ our own risk management staff like many larger providers do. Having CHI as a partner, however, we have the very best experts in risk management on our team, allowing us to exercise the best practices in health care. We embrace CHI as our risk management partner and feel we have an advantage over the bigger guys in that department.”