title: [Profitability analysis of clinical risk management].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Medical treatment entails many risks. Increasingly, the negative impact of these risks on patients' health is revealed and corresponding cases are reported to hospital insurances. A systematic clinical risk management can reduce risks. This analysis is designed to demonstrate the financial profitability of implementing a clinical risk management.
  
  
  METHODS
  The decision analysis of a clinical risk management includes information from published articles and studies, publicly available data from the Federal Statistical Office and expert interviews and was conducted in 2 scenarios. The 2 scenarios result from a maximum and minimum value of preventable adverse events reported in Germany. The planning horizon was a 1-year ­period. The analysis was performed from a hospital's perspective. Subsequently, a threshold-analysis of the reduction of preventable adverse events as an effect of clinical risk management was executed. Furthermore, a static capital budgeting over a 5-year period was added, complemented by a risk analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Regarding the given assumptions, the implementation of clinical risk management would save about 53 000 € or 175 000 €, respectively, for an average hospital within the first year. Only if the reduction of preventable adverse events is as low as 5.6 or 2.8%, respectively, will the implementation of clinical risk management produce losses. According to a comprehensive risk simulation this happens in less than one out of 1 million cases. The investment in a clinical risk management, based on a 5-year period and an interest rate of 5%, has an annually pay off of 81 000 € or 211 000 €, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The implementation of clinical risk management in a hospital pays off within the first year. In the subsequent years the surplus is even higher due to the elimination of implementation costs.
authors: Lehrstuhl für Allgemeine Betriebswirtschaftslehre, insbesondere Produktionswirtschaft und Industriebetriebslehre, -Universität Bayreuth.
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Banduhn
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Schlüchtermann
mesh_terms: D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000191:economics* / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018803:Models, Economic; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data