Operational Improvement

Studies have shown consistently that patients want high quality and affordable healthcare.  They want to have easy access to their state of health.  They want a physician that listens, collaborates online and offline and takes time to understand their situation.

In February of 2008, Deloitte LLP did a study on patient practices and results shows 76% of Internet users are interested in online access to health records and test results and 26% are willing to pay more for this access.  Furthermore, with the aging population placing increased stresses on the healthcare system, AARP reports that more than 90% of seniors support the use of telepharmacies to let doctors monitor their medications.

Even with patient’s willingness to change their habits to enhance the patient experience, hospital departments are challenged with HOW to do it.

Emergency and Urgent Care departments face unique challenges and requirements when dealing with every stage of patient interaction, hospital and administrative procedures and insurance processes.  Additionally, the aging population and the number of uninsured persons nationwide are causing an alarming spike in ER and Urgent care visits.

According to the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics National Health Care Survey:

It is because of these growing changes and events in ER and Urgent Care that change needs to be implemented to reduce costs and improve operations.  Leaders understand that the situation is getting worse and profit leaks become abundant in these areas.  The question many department leaders ask though is HOW to implement change? What steps can be taken now for short and long term results?

Surgical care and operating room procedures are often scrutinized with a critical eye.  As hospitals search for new ways to gain efficiencies and reduce costs, the operating room and surgical service area is the target.  Even with a growing need for surgical services — both inpatient and outpatient, research reveals margins are not growing.  Ideal care in medical-surgical units is reliably safe and error-free, responsive to patient needs and preferences, rewarding and satisfying to staff, and highly efficient. Many hospitals are challenged with meeting these demands under their current processes and staff asset management.

Through a deeper understanding of the gaps that exist and the implementation of a clear and concise process, surgical care teams can increase their productivity, reduce costs in the surgery room and enhance patient care on the front end and back end of care.

Administrative tasks that hospitals must address include requirements delineated by government regulators, payors, and other stakeholders in the healthcare arena.  Couple these needs with patient billing, processing and coding, and the tasks seem nearly insurmountable and costs associated with these activities combined are estimated to contribute more than one-fifth of all hospital costs (AHA Notes Administrative Burden on Hospitals, August 2008).

The health of the hospital system is dependent on streamlining these activities to be more simplistic, less time consuming with higher quality results. 

Throughout the hospital system, numerous areas lend themselves to reduced operational efficiencies due to poor processes or process management.  The areas of inefficiencies tend to also be areas of profit loss. 

A key example. Hospitals often are armed with over inventory of pharmaceuticals and supplies.  By determining better inventory management, hospital staff can reduce the need for overstocking of these materials reducing waste in the system.  Billing and coding errors also unveil a key spot for improvement.  Automating systems or providing detailed process steps for all personnel to follow reduces errors and provides tracking mechanisms for administrators.  Reduced time by personnel increases productivity.

It may sound challenging to reveal and overcome engrained ways of doing things but NXThinking’s approach makes it easy to find inefficiencies and easy to change.

Research shows that in order for change to be sustainable, all members of staff must understand the need for change and buy-in to the improvement processes.  NEW EXAMPLE on cultural challenges.  This is one example outlined in the report for the need to assure the hospital culture and staff is engaged in the change process.

Most hospital administrators agree that change needs to happen and most recognize the barriers in long standing organizational structure but they can’t agree on the easiest and most cost-effective way to push those barriers for improved operations, safety, quality and productivity.

NXThinking addresses the issue from a multitude of angles:

The recent Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey reports that improving the quality of care in hospitals could be facilitated with information provided from patient perspectives on hospital care.
Key findings in the report show a direct correlation between patient perceptions and the success of hospital facilities (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, “Patients’ Perception of Hospital Care in the United States,” October 2008):

Further research supports the need for hospitals to clearly market their strengths and specialties to current and potential patients.  This strategic marketing, patient-centric approach may be new but it is necessary for the decision-making process a patient goes through when selecting a provider.

NXThinking provides a solid and clear marketing approach to understanding public perception and the marketing tools that need to be deployed for enhanced market position and public perception.