© 2014 American Society for Healthcare Risk Management of the American Hospital Association

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) • DOI: 10.1002/jhrm.21129

AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR HEALTHCARE RISK MANAGEMENT • VOLUME 33, NUMBER 3 3

Editor’s Letter

Developing meaningful, relevant content takes a village

Have you ever felt that to get it right you just have to do it yourself? If we live by this motto, our energy will be depleted and we will always be putting out fires, making little or no pro-gress. At 20, I knew everything; at 50, I am not sure I know anything … how did I get here?

Today’s healthcare delivery models will change, and the power of the team will become more pronounced. You need to depend on this power and be comfortable in the team environment. I can call us a team. A team requires a common purpose, crystal clear roles, accepted leader-ship, effective processes, trust, and excellent communication. Teams are voluntary. You know it when you experience it—there is synergy!

I have had the honor to be editor of this Journal, and I did not lead this dedicated group of professionals—I facilitated the discussions. The difference is huge. The team has taken the Journal to a higher level, winning awards and receiving and reviewing timely and cutting-edge information and research to share with our members. But it is the power of this team that makes it possible. Like they say, “It takes a village.”

2013 Editor, Journal of Healthcare Risk Management

Indeed, this is one situation where “it takes a village” simply fits. About our village—it all starts with patients who spur our motivation as risk management and patient safety profes-sionals. There are improvement strategies that must constantly evolve, as well as researchers and authors who work so diligently on solutions and communicating their results and their wisdom. Members of the Journal Editorial Review Board review each manuscript, and help see the process through until the articles are published. Over the past 3 years, I have had the pleasure of working with editors Andy Oppenberg and Fran Charney, who embraced all of these components and guided the team to 3 Apex Awards.

This edition of the Journal of Healthcare Risk Management offers several excellent contributions. The thought-provoking article “Preventing sexual attacks in healthcare facilities: Risk manage-ment considerations” describes how courts have used the legal principle of “foreseeability” in determining a healthcare facility’s liability when an employee is charged with sexual assault. “Improved obstetric safety through programmatic collaboration” tells the story of how 4 New York City hospitals developed a collaborative quality improvement program, resulting in a dramatic decrease in their Adverse Outcome Indexes. In “Institutional disclosure: Promise and problems,” the author explores rationale for and barriers to the prompt and honest disclosure by healthcare organizations of care-related unintended harm to patients. The value of small-scale grant programs sponsored by medical malpractice insurance providers is the focus in “Grant award program partnerships with your professional liability insurance carrier.” John West, a treas-ured long-time contributor, is back with his always thought-provoking “Case Law Update.”

It does indeed take a village, and we hope you enjoy this issue of the Journal.

2014 Editor, Journal of Healthcare Risk Management

Nancy Connelly, 2014 Editor, RN, CPHRM

Fran Charney, 2013 Editor, RN, MS, CPSO, CPPS, CPHRM, CPHQ, DFASHRM