Managing the Risks of Managed Care

Barbara J. Youngberg, JD, BSN, MSW, FASHRM-Visiting Professor of Health Law and Policy, Loyola University Chicago College of Law, Chicago, Illinois

Barbara Youngberg, JD, BSN, MSW, FASHRM has over 25 years experience helping academic medical centers and other complex healthcare organizations restructure quality, risk management, and patient safety programs to meet current needs and challenges.  During her 25 year career at University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) she analyzed malpractice data and trends, quality and patient safety data, and best practice information to assist members in finding creative solutions to difficult risk and patient safety problems. As the Vice President of Insurance, Risk, Quality and Legal Services and co-lead of UHC’s Patient Safety Net (PSN), Ms. Youngberg helped to develop a Web-based reporting tool utilizing standardized language to allow of analysis of events and their root causes and worked to help members integrate patient-safety activities into existing quality and risk-management structures.  Often these efforts including helping members understand the way in which the legal climate could help or hinder them in their efforts.

Ms. Youngberg is a graduate of DePaul University College of Law (JD), University of Illinois–Jane Addams School of Social Work (MSW) and Illinois Wesleyan University (BSN).  She is presently a Visiting Professor of Law at Loyola University Chicago, Beazley Health Law Institute and helps to develop online curriculum for online health law MJ and LL.M degrees.  She is also a professor of Law for Concord Kaplan University School of Law and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Patient Safety Foundation.  She is the author of numerous articles and textbooks on quality management, risk management, and patient safety.