Allegations of sexual abuse within an organizational setting are all too familiar. National trends and an ever-growing chorus for change continue to push organizations to implement prevention measures and raise the bar on safety expectations and better define professional boundaries with patients. And for the first time, survivors have more opportunities to speak up, seek civil and criminal recourse, and pursue a path toward healing. 

Abuse risk is not emerging or new, but the increased financial and reputational impacts are hitting harder than ever before and require a sharpening of risk management skills to understand the scope of the risk coupled with the ability to implement and articulate mitigation measures. And because the true extent of sexual abuse by healthcare professionals remains unclear, now more than ever is the time to create comfort around this conversation.

This session will review proactive measures that healthcare systems, providers, and organizations can take to protect patients from any form of sexual abuse or exploitation and help safeguard healthcare providers from allegations of abuse. This includes a culture of safety that supports awareness and training for healthcare staff, specific reporting expectations, and effective interventions and management of signs of potential issues and reports of abuse.

Takeaways include references and resources they can use to assess and improve sexual abuse prevention programs in their organizations.