Healthcare Risk Management Week Activities

April-May

• Send a memo to your "C-level" and medical staff leadership outlining your plans for Healthcare Risk Management Week.
  1. Choose specific events for the week (see below). Partner with Quality and Patient Safety professionals in your institution to co-provide events.
  2. Order commemorative gifts you can use for prizes or thank you's.
• Contact local civic leaders, including mayor and governor, seeking official recognition of the week. Use the sample proclamation provided by ASHRM.
• Call or write local radio stations/newspapers. Tell them about risk management's role in the delivery of safe and trusted healthcare for the community.

May-June

• Schedule ASHRM's Healthcare Risk Management Week webinar (June 16, 2010) for a conference room. Invite staff, promoting it as an interesting way to learn and share patient safety ideas. This year's topic: insidious intimidation in the workplace.
• Create letterhead, notecards, table tents or other promotional pieces using ASHRM's Healthcare Risk Management Week logo.
• Publicize any official proclamations  that you have received back from civic leaders on bulletin boards.
• Continue to advertise and "talk up" the events you have planned for Healthcare Risk Management Week.

June 14-18

• Distribute a special Healthcare Risk Management Week e-newsletter.
• Have a cafeteria or lobby display board or table depicting aspects of your work.
• Display ASHRM's Healthcare Risk Management Week poster throughout your facility.
• Solicit volunteers to accompany you as "risk managers for a day."
• Host a brown-bag lunch educational program around ASHRM's June 16 webinar.  
• Share laminates with risk management tips on one side, your name and contact info on the other.
• Host an open house. Have cookies, a cake or other goodies. Staff will come for snacks, and you can promote the risk management department through displays, handouts and other materials.
• Plan games or quizzes  and give commemorative gifts as prizes:
  • Create a word-search of common risk management terms. Download a free puzzle maker.
  • Create a risk management trivia quiz.
• Here are suggested ways to use the commemorative items:
  1. As favors at risk management committee, patient safety committee or board meeting.
  2. As rewards/prizes when you do roaming quizzes, asking questions about risk management and patient safety.
  3. As door prizes for brown-bag lunch sessions.
  4. As thank-you's to key people in your organization who support risk management

Late June

• Solicit/review feedback.
• Start planning next year's celebration (the third week in June). Make some committee assignments early.
• Prepare a budget based on this year's expenses that will support next year's activities and commemorative gifts.
• Send success stories about how you celebrated Healthcare Risk Management Week to ASHRM at ashrm@aha.org.