Key Challenges Facing GRC in Healthcare
Post Summary
Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) is a framework for managing risks, meeting compliance requirements, and ensuring effective governance to protect patient safety and care operations.
Fear of GRC: GRC is often viewed as punitive rather than proactive. Lack of Automation: Manual GRC processes waste time and resources. Making the Case for GRC: It can be difficult to justify upfront investment in GRC programs. Elevating Enterprise Risk Management (ERM): Risk management is often siloed, preventing a holistic view of risks.
Automating GRC processes reduces manual effort, minimizes errors, and allows organizations to focus resources on high-priority risks.
By integrating GRC into ERM efforts, healthcare organizations can gain a comprehensive view of risks, improve decision-making, and allocate resources more effectively.
Proactive GRC strategies protect patient safety, ensure compliance, and enable organizations to accept and manage risks to drive innovation and business growth.
Governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC) is a contact sport – and many organizations are afraid to get in the game because they fear getting hurt. Overcoming this fear is key to unlocking the value that GRC can bring to your organization. In the end, a proactive GRC program can help protect patient safety and care operations, and is a critical part of any healthcare delivery organization’s (HDO) cybersecurity effort.
Here are four key challenges faced by healthcare organizations when it comes to GRC:
- The Fear Factor
GRC is often seen as a negative, punitive function that only gets brought in after something has gone wrong. This couldn’t be further from the truth! GRC should be seen as a positive, proactive force that can help organizations avoid problems before they happen. If done correctly, GRC can help HDOs manage and accept more risk to drive the business forward. - Lack of Automation
Another common challenge faced by healthcare organizations is the lack of automation when it comes to GRC. This can lead to cumbersome, manual processes that take up valuable time and resources. Financial services organizations have been leading the way on GRC automation, thanks to the pressure of avoiding audits and reducing the pain of manual auditing processes. - Making the Case for GRC
Investing in GRC can be a hard sell for some organizations, but it’s important to remember that businesses grow and change over time. What might not be a risk today could be a major issue down the road. Just think about how different the business landscape looks now compared to 10 or 20 years ago! As technology evolves and new regulations are put in place, GRC will become an increasingly important part of doing business. - Elevating Enterprise Risk Management
Finally, healthcare organizations should view GRC as a means to elevate enterprise risk management (ERM). Too often, ERM is siloed within individual departments with little coordination between different functions. By integrating GRC into ERM efforts, organizations can gain a more holistic view of risk and make more informed decisions about where to allocate resources.
Conclusion:
Governing risk effectively has never been more important for healthcare organizations. By understanding and addressing the key challenges facing GRC today, you can set your organization up for success in the years to come.
Join Censinet and Renee Murphy principal analyst at Forrester Research for our next webinar on Healthcare GRC on Monday, November 21, 2022 at 12PM ET/ 9AM PT. Sign up today!
Key Points:
What is GRC, and why is it important for healthcare organizations?
- Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) is a framework that helps healthcare organizations manage risks, ensure regulatory compliance, and uphold governance standards.
- In healthcare, GRC plays a critical role in protecting patient safety, ensuring care operations run smoothly, and addressing cybersecurity threats.
- A proactive GRC program enables organizations to anticipate risks, avoid costly mistakes, and align with industry regulations, making it essential for long-term resilience.
What are the biggest challenges healthcare organizations face with GRC?
Four key challenges include:
- Fear of GRC: GRC is often seen as a punitive, reactive function rather than a proactive tool for managing risks and driving innovation.
- Lack of Automation: Manual processes are time-intensive and inefficient, limiting the ability to scale GRC efforts.
- Making the Case for GRC: It can be difficult to justify investment in GRC programs, particularly when risks aren’t immediately visible.
- Siloed Enterprise Risk Management (ERM): Without integrating GRC across departments, organizations lack a holistic view of risks, leading to fragmented decision-making.
How does automation improve GRC in healthcare?
- Automation streamlines GRC processes, reducing the reliance on manual workflows and minimizing errors.
- It enables faster risk assessments, proactive identification of vulnerabilities, and real-time monitoring of compliance efforts.
- By automating GRC, healthcare organizations can free up resources to focus on high-priority risks, improve productivity, and reduce the burden of audits and regulatory requirements.
Why is it difficult for healthcare organizations to justify GRC investments?
- Many organizations struggle to see the immediate value of GRC because it often prevents problems that haven’t yet occurred.
- However, as technology evolves and new regulations emerge, GRC becomes critical for addressing risks tied to digital transformation, connected devices, and cloud-based systems.
- Investing in GRC today ensures organizations are better prepared to handle future risks and operate within a compliant framework.
How does GRC elevate enterprise risk management (ERM)?
- GRC helps unify risk management efforts across departments, providing a comprehensive view of enterprise-wide risks.
- By integrating GRC into ERM, healthcare organizations can identify gaps, prioritize resources, and make more informed decisions.
- This alignment improves operational efficiency, reduces redundancies, and ensures that risk management efforts are consistent across the organization.
What are the long-term benefits of a proactive GRC program in healthcare?
- A proactive GRC program protects patient safety, ensures compliance with industry regulations, and enhances the organization’s ability to accept and manage risks.
- It fosters innovation by enabling healthcare organizations to adopt new technologies securely and confidently.
- Over time, it strengthens organizational resilience, helping healthcare systems adapt to evolving challenges and maintain uninterrupted care operations.
How can healthcare organizations start addressing GRC challenges?
- Shift the Mindset: Promote GRC as a proactive, value-driven function rather than a reactive, punitive measure.
- Invest in Automation: Streamline GRC processes with tools that reduce manual effort and enable real-time risk monitoring.
- Integrate GRC with ERM: Break down silos to ensure a unified approach to risk management and compliance.
- Educate Stakeholders: Highlight the long-term cost savings and risk reduction benefits of investing in GRC programs.
How does Censinet help healthcare organizations with GRC?
- Censinet provides innovative solutions like automated risk assessments and real-time monitoring to simplify GRC processes for healthcare organizations.
- By partnering with experts like Renee Murphy from Forrester Research, Censinet offers educational resources, such as webinars and thought leadership, to help organizations address GRC challenges effectively.
- Censinet’s mission is to eliminate risks to patient safety and care operations, ensuring healthcare organizations can operate securely and efficiently.
