Risk management health care practices in NCAA athletic programs

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether important health care practices vary according to the professional characteristics of the athletic training staff. The need for this study stems from the increasing trend in society to settle legal disputes and receive compensation for economic loss. Intercollegiate athletic trainers are the first to respond to injuries, offer immediate care, implement rehabilitation, and give medical advice. The head athletic trainer serves as the chief medical representative for the institution.; A survey instrument was designed to solicit information from head athletic trainers who represented intercollegiate athletic health care programs nationwide. Some risk management studies have focused on intercollegiate athletics departments (coaches and administrators); however, to date none have solicited feedback from athletic trainers. The instrument was designed through an extensive literature review followed by a review by a panel of experts including athletic trainers, an athletics administrator, and sports attorneys.; The survey had two sections: eight questions designed to categorize respondents into groups according to personal and institutional characteristics, and a section consisting of questions probing into health care policies and practices of the institution and athletic health care staff. Questionnaire items were tabulated to determine the frequency with which the athletic training staff engaged in health care practices in an attempt to reduce risk. Measures of central tendency were used to report the responses made. A series of multiple ANOVA's were used to determine if differences existed in health care practices based on years of experience, academic degree, level of competition, and whether participants had damage claims experience.; Although there were 312 comparisons, there were relatively few differences in health care practices. This suggests that athletic trainers, regardless of personal or institutional characteristics, provide health care practices that are fairly similar. Staff size, level of competition, whether SOP's existed and if they were written seemed to be the characteristics that stimulated the few differences in health care practices. In general, larger, more prestigious schools with formal procedures were more likely to have physicians present at high risk events, conduct preparticipation physicals, rehearse emergency procedures, postemergency plans, and discuss issues with institutional legal counsel. Although there were few statistically significant differences, it could be argued that if one injury could be prevented or an athlete returned to activity more quickly based upon these results, then the study had practical significance.