Quality care and the safety of patients is of utmost importance. To achieve this, healthcare organizations must continually review and evaluate processes, procedures, and staff to ensure efficiency and effectiveness and improve patient outcomes. One way to do this is through peer review, which involves healthcare professionals assessing the performance of a peer or ‘like’ practitioner to identify areas for improvement. Peer review is so common, it applies to any type of healthcare operation and can apply to any role. In fact, it is often mandated for nurses, residents, and providers to complete a formal peer review process. Not only is peer review an essential component of quality assurance, but it is also a process improvement method to improve the standard of care and patient outcomes. Peer reviews allow organizations to identify and address errors, share constructive feedback, and facilitate collaboration amongst teams. By providing structured feedback loops, healthcare professionals can adopt best practices and improve personal performance.

Common Peer Review Challenges

Despite its benefits, peer review has traditionally been prone to sloppiness, and if done improperly, it may have negative consequences. According to The National Library of Medicine, only 62% of hospitals consider their review process to be either highly or greatly standardized, leaving the door open for abuse. If a review is not thoroughly conducted, critical errors and issues that put patients at risk may be missed. Additionally, conducting a peer review process using paper forms can be time-consuming and challenging, leading to further delays. To protect from abuse and other issues, standardization is critical for peer review management.

Digital Transformation of Peer Review

These concerns are real and valid, and it’s exactly why many healthcare organizations are investing in technology to streamline and improve the effectiveness of their required peer review processes. With an integrated healthcare risk management information system (RMIS), peer review can be conducted electronically, eliminating the need for manual documentation and data entry. This saves time and allows for a more efficient peer review process. Furthermore, RMIS provides standardized evaluation criteria that help to ensure consistency and facilitate easier peer review management. Ultimately, peer review management can be done more efficiently through digital solutions.

Origami’s Peer Review Solution

Origami Risk’s Peer Review solution provides a guided workflow for peer reviews that can be tailored to roles and specialties to allow for complete, efficient management of all peer review cases. Initiate peer review cases from scratch or through a reported incident. Whether it’s your annual, mandated peer review or a peer review stemming from an error, incident, or negative outcome– Origami’s solution can help. Peer review cases are completely managed in one, consolidated location, ensuring clarity and improved transparency across all departments. With Origami’s all-in-one, single-SaaS-system for managing entire healthcare risk management ecosystems, nurses, residents, and providers can easily conduct individual peer reviews, collaborate on results and next steps as part of a committee evaluation structure, or even initiate performance improvement plans, all within the same platform. 

Origami’s Peer Review solution is pre-loaded with three starter case types (provider, nurse, and resident). This allows workflows to be tailored to an organization’s specific needs. For example, a form can be created that is specific to each provider’s role — e.g., anesthesiologist, surgeon, ER doctor, etc. And the solution is built with collaboration in mind. Case coordinators can assign members to committees for case review management through easy-to-follow workflows. When reviews are submitted, automated notification processes and pre-loaded notification letter templates help to reduce administrative burdens. Security measures protect sensitive information and ensure access to only authorized users improving privacy.

To learn more about Origami Risk’s Peer Review solution, visit https://www.origamirisk.com/products/patient-safety-quality to learn more and join us for our Peer Review solution showcase.

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Peer review processes can be time-consuming and ineffective. They don’t have to be! With Origami Risk’s Peer Review solution, reduce administrative steps, support best practices, and improve the quality of care and patient safety outcomes.