You’ve seen how encompassing performance management into your facility procedures has enhanced and evolved the quality of the healthcare industry. And, you’ve come to understand just how important it is for your staff to make the switch for the betterment of themselves and their patients, and maybe even aiding in reducing costs in healthcare overall. In fact, a study by Gallup found that performance management systems encourage teamwork, communication and collaboration between managers and employees – including in the healthcare industry.
But, as a facility or department manager, you tend to think about the big stuff. How is this going to impact our supplies, overall reducing costs in healthcare, or even the time your doctors and nurses have during their shifts?
Improve your healthcare performance management strategy AND reduce costs while doing so: Click To TweetWell, it’s time to go to the next level and discuss your main concern – costs. The truth is, applying a sense of quality and performance management can actually reduce costs. Seem too good to be true? Take a look:
Focusing on the Triple Aim and Measuring Costs
Before diving any deeper let’s get an understanding of what most healthcare facilities strive to fulfill and how performance management can accomplish those aspects. The triple aim of improving population health, reducing costs, and improving patient experience is always a big concern. To aid in achieving these three goals, performance management gives you a way to do it all by making quality of care the main focus for you and your staff members. However, in order to fully comprehend what needs to be done, your process, quality, feedback, and more also need to be measured within the performance management process.
“You can focus on improving pieces of those processes, but if the outcomes you hope to achieve aren’t measured, met, and constantly improved on, none of the process matters.” – Patricia Reid Ponte, RN, DNSc, FAAN, NEA-BC
Making these measurements lets you see where the most change and improvement needs to happen – including in the costs department. Measuring financial outcomes are just as important as tracking other areas. Where can you make adjustments? What area are you spending the most in and what improvements can you make to counteract that? Measuring your true costs is really the first step in reducing them. If you’re not sure what you’re spending and where, you can’t adjust accordingly.
Using Technology to Your Advantage
Upfront, technology is a big investment, but in the long run, it pays for itself. Find a process that would work for your facility. Use systems to track progress, give feedback, and communicate with your staff members as well as allowing them to interact with each other in peer-to-peer scenarios. Performance management systems that act like apps, social networks, or even text messaging platforms are what enable this communication and feedback process to be easy and simple – even for busy staff members deals with lots of patients. Not to mention, they tend to be on the cheaper side. But, it doesn’t just stop there.
Cost-effective performance management tools & methods for busy hospital workplaces: Click To TweetStudies show more than ⅓ of companies are moving towards a more continuous feedback process in order to accomplish communication, learning, and knock down development barriers. Integrating a system such as this creates an improved structure so that everyone (including managers and staff members alike) can works towards better quality and care. This means fewer mistakes, improved safety, and better preparation for future issues. In healthcare, you can see how this translates to shorter hospital visits, less medicine waste because of more accurate diagnosis and prescription, and shorter recovery time. This all relates to one key element – lesser cost.
So, here’s the jist of it all. Knowing what you are spending initially, measuring these costs, tracking them, and seeing how you can improve are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how performance management aids in reducing costs in healthcare. Then, the aspect of quality care really comes into play. When staff members are aware of areas they need to improve on and are able to better make decisions about medicine, dosage, and more it means less spend and waste of resources including the overall costs of helping patients.
Want to start shrinking those prices and better manage your spend and quality? iRevü is just the performance management system you need to get your healthcare facility on the right track. Sign up today or a free trial, or take a look at our latest healthcare performance management case study to see how we can help you today!