Enhancing Healthcare Productivity: A Holistic Approach

Productivity results into an efficient workforce, excellent quality of work, customer loyalty and a stronger employee attachment to the organization. Higher employee productivity in the health care is positively correlated with a high customer (patient) satisfaction. Huber (2006), notes that a highly productive health care workforce treats external clients (patients and other interest groups) excellently. This works in improving the loyalty of the clients thus not only improving profits but also promotes client confidence and retention.

Studies indicate that health care organizations benefit from increased savings when the employee productivity is high.

Reduction of potential risks associated with the health occupation reduces incidences such as absenteeism. There is a high correlation between the physical and mental presence at work to productivity, and in turn to the organizational efficiency. Employee productivity as result of job satisfaction is associated with more constructs that are affect-laden and which enhance the pursuit of health care values and goals within the organization (AbuAlRub, 2004).

This results into a high level of innovation and creativity which facilitates for the development of more effective care procedures within the industry.

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High productivity establishes a competitive performance culture that shapes employee attributes. The personality characteristics exacted by productivity are reflected in a high performance of the work and organizational productivity. Studies on employee productivity in health care (as a service industry) indicate that productivity is strongly correlated to the quality of care provided y the staff.

This works out perfectly in reducing the occurrence of errors and hence more lives are saved.

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Improvement of employee productivity As a basis for interpersonal relations, communication improves sharing of knowledge and ideas as well as brainstorming to enable nurses to work together to achieve common organizational goals. Therapeutic communication improves the nurse-client relationship making it easier to handle communication issues that affect productivity (Huber, 2006).

According to Huber, motivation contributes to about 20% to 90% of the improvement in employees’ productivity. Improvement of hygiene and motivator factors such working conditions, compensation and benefits, recognition, advancement, growth and development impacts the job environment which according to Huber improves productivity. Improving processes in the external environment such as rewards (as nurses are conversant with behavioral modifications inspired by the operant conditioning approach) motivates and improves individual behavior that results into a high productivity.

The practices and polices within an organization can also be reformed to promote individual behavior that improves productivity. Empowerment, which entails giving the employees authority, responsibility and freedom to pursue what they like as well as instilling in them confidence and believe with respect to their capacity to succeed improves employee productivity while increasing customer satisfaction and lowering costs. Productivity measurement Employee productivity entails measuring the efficiency with regards to the use of the human resources in an organization.

Basically, productivity is expressed as the ratio of output to input i. e. , output divided by the input (Ibid). Output quantity is determined in terms of services offered such as the number of in- and/or out-patients served. Output quality is measured in terms of adherence to standards, workmanship and low complaint levels. On the other hand, inputs are regarded as the cost of labor, employee number and the hours worked. These indexes indicate employee productivity that reflects on the performance of the company. Factors considered when measuring productivity

The perspective regarding the nature and basic purpose of the health care establishment is vital when assessing employee productivity. This perspective influences critical evaluation concerns which include: what is to be measured; and why it should be measured? That is, relation to productivity (American Hospital Association, 2002). Input measures such as remuneration, training and the staffing mixture are reflections of the resources input to enhance productivity and thus are important considerations in measuring productivity.

Outcome measures which measure employee response to various developments within the firm and which either impact on or are a reflection of productivity have to be put into consideration. Output measures which refer to the output attributable to the employees are very vital in measuring productivity. Output measures can be considered as: the actual services offered such as the number of clients served; and the major financial productivity areas such as revenue per employee. The domain of activities or functions within the health care organization is to be considered during the measurement (AbuAlRub, 2004).

This is because health care organizations serve many objectives and aims such as educational programs in terms of residency training and community projects as well as the fundamental patient care objectives. The external and internal clients are also considered. This encompasses having an insight into who among the internal and external stakeholders can be evaluated to give an insight into the productivity of the employees. The cost-effectiveness and cost-befit models The cost-effectiveness model is a composite approach to measuring the productivity within an organization.

In health care establishments for instance, this involves considering the degree at which goals are attained and the cost incurred. The nature of organizational goals and their purpose significantly influence productivity. In this regard, goals can have various purposes such as motivation of the workers towards an exemplary performance or provision of a basis for performance evaluation. By establishing high cost containment standards, the management in health care organizations is able to motivate the staff.

The degree of employee productivity due to such standards is especially high if the management installs compensation systems that do reinforce the standards. The cost-befit model refers to a structured, data-based quantitative approach for improving employee productivity. In this regard, the cost-benefit model provides an insight into both the recurring and one-time benefits and costs associated with a course of action, initiative or investment aimed at improving the productivity of the nursing staff.

This is because the various approaches, initiatives, courses of action and investments are always competing due to the constrained nature of financial, structural and other resources within health care organizations (American Hospital Association, 2002). The cost-benefit approach presents these benefits and costs in a standardized framework thus providing for the assessment and comparison of the various alternatives aimed at improving employee productivity.

In other words, the cost-benefit model is based on the value derived from the benefits that are associated with the proposed productivity improvement initiatives and the costs that accompany the initiatives. It is an unbiased approach for improving employee productivity.

References

  1. Huber, D. (2006). Leadership and Nursing Care Management.
  2. Cambridge: Elsevier Health Sciences American Hospital Association. (2002). In our hands: How hospital leaders can build a thriving work force. Chicago: AHA.
  3. AbuAlRub, R. F. (2004). Job stress, job performance, & social support among hospital nurses. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 36(1), pp. 73-78.
Updated: Nov 30, 2023
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Enhancing Healthcare Productivity: A Holistic Approach. (2020, Jun 02). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/employee-productivity-essay

Enhancing Healthcare Productivity: A Holistic Approach essay
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