You don’t need a leprechaun or the “luck of the Irish” to reap the benefits of a productivity management system. Healthcare organizations across the country are managing their COVID-19 recovery through productivity by appropriately aligning their resources with rebounding patient volumes and current community needs. Productivity initiatives promote high-quality care, cost reduction, patient/employee satisfaction, and sustainability. A consistent focus on workforce optimization and performance improvement allows hospitals and health systems to refocus efforts based on demand and minimize waste. If you do not have a data-driven productivity process in place, here are a few key items to consider:
- Organizations that are able to do more with less because they have eliminated re-work, increased automation, and streamlined workflows are not just found at the end of the rainbow. They are not a myth, they do exist! Tap into all available resources and don’t just rely on your hospital or health system’s previous performance to guide your productivity projects. Look externally to see what similar-sized organizations are doing and identify/apply best practices that make sense to your unique operations and care delivery models.
- As the saying goes “everyone is Irish on St. Patty’s Day!” Just like this fun-filled holiday, productivity should be all-inclusive. Every department and facet of your organization’s operations should be involved in a productivity assessment. It doesn’t matter if the functions of an area are clinical, ancillary, or strictly support in nature; they all collectively support the business of healthcare and are essential to success. Inefficiencies can have a domino effect across a hospital or health system, greatly impacting performance at both the department and global levels. Approach your productivity strategies from both angles to ensure effective and comprehensive workflow improvement solutions are being implemented.
- Unlike St. Patty’s Day, productivity should not be a once-a-year occurrence! Consider taking a “4-Leaf” approach to performance improvement: assess, optimize, monitor, repeat! By routinely evaluating your organization’s productivity and tracking progress to established goals in real-time, cost and efficiency gains can be sustained long-term. Making productivity a continuous process promotes a culture of accountability, helps to reinforce positive management practices, and elevates staff as good stewards of available resources.
Productivity, when properly designed and implemented, can lead to a significant “pot of gold” in savings! The improvements generated produce lasting results, both operationally and financially, that strengthen performance and position organizations for continued success.
Let the ALTIUS team guide your hospital or health system in the development of a robust productivity system! Reach out to us directly here and learn more about how we can help make “your troubles less, your blessings more, and nothing but happiness come through your door!”