Executive director, office of integrated risk management
Keck Medicine of USC
Pasadena, CA
With more than 25 years of experience in healthcare and risk management and a background in fields such as mental health, federal and state regulations, risk management, healthcare compliance, and education, Dr. Josh Hyatt currently serves as executive director of integrated risk management for Keck Medicine of USC. Starting his career as a mental health counselor, Hyatt became licensed as a healthcare risk manager after becoming interested in the diverse curriculum. Today, he leads the office in monitoring and mitigating operational risks within the health system, which includes three hospitals and multiple outpatient centers.
“We have a boundless number of patient safety issues that we look at on a day-to-day basis,” he says. “In healthcare, we focus on patient safety because if you prevent harm to patients, you will often prevent loss in the long-term to the institution.”
Hyatt points out that the healthcare industry is highly regulated, which ties in closely with risk management. “When you walk into a hospital, everything you do is regulated, except for when you go into the bathroom and close the stall door,” he says. “In healthcare risk management, you have to understand how everything works. This is such a dynamic and evolving discipline, and that’s why I have been in it for so long.”
In addition to his role at Keck Medicine, Hyatt is also president of the Southern California Association of Healthcare Risk Management, and serves as faculty for the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management, where he teaches the Certified Professional in Risk Management [CPHRM] designation course to help a new generation enter the healthcare risk management environment.
