Healthcare financial management : journal of the Healthcare Financial Management Association
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Healthcare organizations should approach performance improvement as a program, not a project. The program should be led by a guidance team that identifies goals, prioritizes work, and removes barriers to enable clinical improvement teams and work groups to realize performance improvements. A healthcare enterprise data warehouse can provide the initial foundation for the program analytics. Evidence-based best practices can help achieve improved outcomes and reduced costs.
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Time-driven activity-based costing: Traces the path of a patient throughout the continuum of care for a specific medical condition. Identifies the actual cost of each resource used, such as personnel, space, consumables, and equipment, in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Documents the amount of time the patient spends with each resource. Supports the ability to aggregate cost information across multiple organizations that deliver care to a patient throughout a defined episode of care.
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To sustain gains from a process improvement initiative, healthcare organizations should: Explain to staff why a process improvement initiative is needed. Encourage leaders within the organization to champion the process improvement, and tie their evaluations to its outcomes. Ensure that both leaders and employees have the skills to help sustain the sought-after process improvements.