Healthcare Woes? Hospital Inefficiencies and Possible Solutions

Posted by Allison on Fri, Feb 27, 2015 @ 11:08 AM

Workflow and organization management are important concepts to healthcare as a whole, but specifically these concepts are key to hospital management. Not only can flaws in workflow hinder the activities of hospitals, but also it can cost a great deal of money to correct flaws. 

A recent survey by the Ponemon Institute of 400 plus healthcare providers discovered that poor communication on its own has an estimated economic impact of $1.75 million per U.S. hospital. Also, the survey found that this inadequate communication alone has an estimated annual economic impact of more than $11 billion industry-wide.  

It is clear that many of these costly issues are complex in nature, but some quick fixes can be implemented to decrease inefficiencies. 

  • In addressing lack of effective communication methods: the use of secure text messaging could increase productivity and minimize economic loss by about 50 %
  • Looking at duplicate documentation requirements: eliminating inefficiency here can allow for more patient time and higher quality patient care and management can fix this by surveying the system to find duplicates and then can address EHR issues with the vendor; next the duplicates can be reconciled with the EHR provider
  • Dealing with patient flow: address processes and review occupancy and manage ORs and facilities by providing a process for scheduling date and time of patient discharge at least one day in advance
  • Ensure appropriate hospital admission: provide practitioners with resources, for example options such as social workers, nursing homes, behavioral health centers, skilled nursing centers and rehab services to eliminate inappropriate hospital stays
  • Avoid incomplete medication reconciliation: try to obtain adequate information from patient, but also use EHR effectively to ensure accuracy 

 

Topics: healthcare, healthIT, patient satisfaction, employee engagement, Scribe, EMR