How to Make Productivity Gains Possible and Profitable

By Compass Clinical Consulting’s Shawna O’Neill, RN, and Cary Gutbezahl, M.D., President

One area in hospital operations that has gone largely untouched is reducing the cost of delivering safe, quality health care. This is where new thinking about workforce productivity, case management, and lean processes and policies can reduce the cost of running a hospital. Hospital leaders can transform their organizations into leaner, faster and better organizations—with sustainable improvements.

Hospital leaders often fear efforts to improve productivity will alienate staff or lessen quality. Including all stakeholders, redesigning processes and working toward national benchmarks will ensure that productivity improvements stick.

READ:  “How to Make Productivity Gains Possible and Profitable” via Hospitals & Health Networks Magazine.

“Fresh Thinking About Hospital Productivity” Shows How to Reduce Cost, Improve Staff Morale and Patient Satisfaction

Hospital workforce savings don’t have to come from a mass layoff of talent

When half a hospital’s cost is payroll and the current economic downturn is causing severe operational financial stress, most hospital executives eventually have to explore a reduction in labor costs. But, according to Compass Clinical Consulting’s latest whitepaper, “Fresh Thinking About Hospital Productivity,” (http://www.compass-clinical.com/wp3-registration) a process-oriented workforce productivity initiative can reduce a hospital’s operational costs by three to five percent of payroll within the first 12-months – while improving staff morale.

AVOID LAYOFFS AT ALL COSTS

“Hospital workforce savings do not have to come from a mass layoff of talent – in fact, it’s often the worse choice and demoralizes staff,” says Cary Gutbezahl, MD, co-author of the paper. Hospitals often have problems in just a few sectors of the organization.  Focusing on a those departments instead of a hospital-wide initiative is an option the some hospitals choose.”

THINK ANEW

New thinking about workforce productivity, case management, lean processes and policies can make dramatic dents in the cost of delivering safe, quality healthcare in a hospital setting. Compass Clinical Consulting (http://www.compass-clinical.com) has found that when organizations  adopt new approaches and attitudes to productivity, they are able to achieve cost reductions that grow over the years – while improving staff morale and commitment.

ACT ANEW

“Without buy-in to change culture and processes, the likelihood of producing durable productivity improvement is low,” says Dr. Gutbezahl. “Leaders should develop a formal, documented plan that addresses the stakeholders affected by change, while also addressing the four major types of resistance to change.”

OVERCOME RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

The four major types of resistance to change include:

1.      Technical – Describes those with feelings of inadequacy or incompetence who fear change because it could put their employment at risk.

2.      Political –People who sense a real or perceived loss of power or control.

3.      Cultural – People who like the organization the way it is today and feel that change will alter their sense of ownership.

4.      Emotional – People who work themselves into frenzy, or emotional paralysis, at the thought of one more change or additional workload.

To learn more about overcoming workforce resistance to change, the 10 most common obstacles to project success and sample metrics for measuring organizational performance, download the whitepaper, “Fresh Thinking About Hospital Productivity.” (http://www.compass-clinical.com/wp3-registration)

RELATED LINKS:

• Hospital Productivity without Fear
• Hospital Decisions Today Will Shape Your Hospital’s Future Workforce

About Compass Clinical Consulting
Compass Clinical Consulting helps hospitals reduce the cost of providing safe, quality patient care. Founded in 1979 and based in Cincinnati, OH, Compass has helped hundreds of hospitals and health systems prepare for accreditation, optimize labor cost management, manage clinical resources, and improve patient throughput and physician relations. Compass also places interim healthcare executives.

The Key to Improving Hospital Productivity?

Changing Attitudes

It’s a familiar scene. A hospital inpatient unit chronically misses its productivity target or budget by approximately ten percent. The nurse manager for the unit repeatedly attempts to explain, but the targets remain unmet, and the financial ramifications of unnecessary hospital labor costs continue to mount.

Ingrained Attitudes Impede Improvement
In today’s hospitals, it’s not uncommon to encounter this type of defensiveness among inpatient unit managers who miss their targets. While some frustration amongst managers is understandable, the productivity losses that can accompany negative attitudes and biases pose a serious threat to hospitals’ bottom lines.

Read the complete story “Changing Attitudes: The Key to Achieving Hospital Productivity Gains,” via Better Hospitals.