The role of risk management in maternal-child health.

In today's litigious medical environment, risk managers serve as a support to health care providers by managing potential or actual liability situations. They analyze the facts in an untoward event, help clinicians communicate the appropriate information to the patient and family, and document it in an objective manner. This article briefly describes the inception of the risk managers' role, details how risk managers can provide support to members of the medical and nursing staffs and what their role is in patient safety, and explains various basic legal concepts that are important to understand should litigation ensue following an adverse event.