Journal of healthcare resource management最新文献

Discuss cost management and performance improvement with any manager at an acute care hospital and you will hear several consistent themes: Quality improvement (QI) has not produced the anticipated results on a timely basis; Focused cost reduction efforts have at best provided short-term benefits; and The organization needs to be more nimble, more responsive to the marketplace. If your hospital is wrestling with these issues, take some comfort in knowing that you are not alone. In general, the same problems are being experienced by long-term care facilities, group practices, practice plans, and most other provider organizations. However, all is not doom and gloom. A common-sense, easy-to-understand solution to the cost control problem can be implemented if an organization is disciplined and can exercise patience and diligence in implementation. Business Process Redesign (BPR), a performance improvement strategy and tactic that has been successfully deployed throughout private industry, can solve the problem. If undertaken correctly, BPR links the best concepts and principles of quality improvement, operations analysis, and focused cost reduction with an organization's strategic planning efforts. BPR results in the establishment of cost management initiatives that are consistent with the organization's long term goals. This article takes a closer look at the merits of BPR in a changing healthcare environment.

On average, most healthcare facilities are doing less than they should in the areas of source reduction and recycling, and will likely do so until mandated by law. The main reasons for this are ever-tightening healthcare budgets, limited staffing, and the cost of operating recycling programs compared to the cost of general solid waste disposal. Poor record keeping also may also be hampering the final decision to recycle. This article, Part II on waste abatement practices in healthcare organizations, examines what factors facilities should consider in establishing a recycling program, and analyzes cost-effective collection and disposal practices.

Effectively managing costs in a healthcare environment may require taking a new look at how those costs are evaluated. The price of a product is not necessarily the most effective or efficient way of determining the actual cost. Using a value chain approach takes into consideration the functional costs of using a product as well, including both the "process" and "downstream" costs to an organization. In this article, Associate Professor Neil A. Wilner examines the differences between price and cost using a typical purchase in a healthcare environment.

The waste budget rarely gets the attention it requires. After all, c'mon it's garbage. We produce it and it costs money to get rid of it. There's nothing we can do about it. Sound familiar? We feel as if we have a handle on it when we negotiate to receive the lowest bid, but our efforts can not stop there. Do we really know what we-re getting for our money? Do we really need everything that is being suggested by the hauler? Are we investigating every avenue that involves waste or are we wasting valuable dollars? With the ever increasing need to find savings, let's look for in in our waste. The following overview of current waste issues is Part One of a guide for the review of practices and potential opportunities. The second part will appear next month.