CSR as a means of risk management in the healthcare sector: the case of “Social and Health System – Regione Lombardia (Italy)

The aim of the paper is to analyze how socially responsible behaviors can be considered as risk management tools. In particular, the underlying objective is to highlight the existence of a link between CSR and risk management within the healthcare sector of the Lombardy Region (Italy). The research is divided into two sections and the approach used combines both descriptive analysis and quantitative analysis methods: in the first part will be analyzed the concept of corporate social responsibility and risk management, describing the same concepts in the healthcare sector. In the second part, in order to highlight the CSR-risk management link, the paper analyses the web sites of the 8 health protection agencies of the Lombardy Region, created following the reform of the social and health system in Lombardy (Regional Law 23/2015) which has, among other things, transformed the former ASL (Local Health Authority) into ASST (Agency of health protection). In our paper we demonstrate how a double bond (a double relationship) between CSR and RM exists. The first link classifies the CSR as an RM tool. At the same time, the RM can be considered a tool to demonstrate the social responsibility of the institution (or as a tool to prove that an institution is socially responsible). This paper presents elements of originality as there are no papers in the literature that jointly consider CSR and RM in the healthcare field. There is also a gap in this respect in the non-health field. The main limitation consists in the sample investigated: the analysis is limited to the 8 ATS of the Lombardy Region; therefore, it does not consider the 27 ASSTs (territorial social and health companies) and does not consider the ASLs and the AOs (hospital companies) of the other Italian Regions.