LEVERAGING HEALTHCARE IT TO IMPROVE OPERATIONAL

PERFORMANCE:
A good place to start is to look at what improvements a hospital
can make with existing resources.
To allocate limited capital resources is perhaps one of the most
difficult decisions hospital executives have to make. Demands
for new equipment, renovations and maintenance and the need
for new service lines and facilities all come with some merit.
Capital should be allocated to projects based on importance and
whether such project will support the hospitals mission and will
provide projected financial, quality or operational returns and
whether the hospital has the capital to fianc the opportunity.
One of the major capital projects that a hospital must make in
order to improve the quality, and efficiency of patient care while
reducing costs and increasing revenue is the process of hospital
automation.
Automation is an ideal solution to enhance patient safety,
improve quality of patient care and simplify regulatory
compliance.
Use of pre-printed forms to manage hospital daily business
processes is costly and inefficient. Manual data entry can lead to
errors of interpretation. The dynamic nature of the healthcare
industry demands solution that allows changes to be
implemented quickly and easily.
A possible drawback of this project( electronic medical records) is
the start up costs are enormous. Not only must we buy
equipment to record and store patient charts, but efforts must be
taken to convert all charts to electronic form. Training on
electronic medical records software adds additional expense in
paying people to take training.
Unfamiliarity with technology can significantly detract from
patient time as the doctor or nurse struggles with unfamiliar
equipment.
Its also easy to miss recording relevant details, or to type in
incorrect information.
Electronic medical records may reduce office paperwork, but
they may not coordinate care between several treating
physicians, pharmacies, and allied health workers.
Some are concerned about the security of their medical records,
which should be completely confidential. Hackers may ultimately
 be able to penetrate the records despite security precautions,
and they may then release confidential information to others.
Conclusion: Capital projects must be equated with the benefits
to be derived or projects that will generate the best return for the
hospital.

MAJOR CAPITAL PROJECTS and HOSPITAL COST POSITION:

Hospital financial performance can be measured by analyzing ratios

and amounts.
The operating margin is the most commonly used financial ratios to
measure a hospitals financial performance. It compares a hospitals
total operating revenue against its total operating costs.
Operating revenue must be intensified and the corresponding
operating expenses and others costs need to be controlled to produce
a positive net results.
Setting and managing healthcare in the hospital must be based on the
budget targets to achieve budgeted operating margins. Closer look
must be attributed to the capital budgeting practices of large hospitals.
Capital Projects of the hospital should take into consideration the
project cost, benefits and its risk.
Hospital Cost provides for the detailed estimate or projected costs of
such project.
Conclusion: Uncertainty about their future financial conditions could
stop hospitals from implementing all the necessary reform
measures/projects needed to improve their efficiency and reduce
expenses.
HOSPITAL STRATEGIES FOR EFFECTIVE PERFORMANCE
MANAGEMENT:

Effective performance management and development place the focus

on what we really want to create in a hospital. A positive impact of an
effective performance management bears an indispensable result on
the financial performance that is dependent on their ability to improve
quality, control cost, and enhance efficiency.
The general work system must be characterized by a definite norms
and standards to achieve the desired benefits from performance
management efforts.
The most common performance management activities in the hospital
are as follows:
o Measuring performance against goals.
o Summarizing financial performance information at the
department level.
o Tracking key performance indicators.
Now, the barriers to true performance management or in performance
improvement is the poor implementation within the system, the lack
of effort to carry out the information as planned and the ability to
improve the system
Conclusion: To achieve effective performance Management and
to drive strategic, operational decisions and intensify financial
capability issues should be examined and decisions should be
carefully examined whether in their immediate impact or long
term significance. By understanding the significance of a
decision we can know how much time and resources to spend
on it.
SAGGING ECONOMY, REFORM DRIVE HOSPITAL DEALS:

In the world of hospital mergers and acquisitions, investors think they

can make some money off those assets over the next couple of years.
The hospital deal could change the way doctors invest in healthcare
facilities.
The acquisition is an important step to continue building a strong
accountable care to the community.
But will physicians want to sink their hard-earned cash in such
arrangements? If I were a doctor with varied options, I might opt for
specialty-hospital or medical real estate investment instead.
The terms of the agreement, like to preserve jobs and maintain the
current management teams at both hospitals, and workers salaries and
benefits will remain unchanged.
Advantages: It enhances camaraderie of the medical staff members,
valuable management skills.
Disadvantages: Distrust of hospital administration, clash of
personalities, opinions and operating styles, differences in philosophy
and management style, an increase sense of competition.
Due to the current recession, Does hospital quality being
compromised?
Is decline in profits and decrease in staff hinders hospital quality and
safety?
In uncertain economic times, it is especially important to have
certainty that hospitals are doing things safely. But as hospitals reduce
staff and make other changes to make ends meet, we dont necessarily
have that certainty.
 That why it is as important as ever to not only measure the quality of
hospital care, but also understand the systems that do deliver
consistent, cost-effective and high-quality care.

STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESSES and HOSPITAL FINANCIAL

PERFORMANCE:

Financial planning should be integrated with strategic planning and

operations planning.
The hardest is the implementation of resource allocation, everyone is
allocating their time to the most important aspects of the business.
There should be an association between strategic planning process and
financial performance or evaluate the cause and effect relationship
between planning and performance.
Planning and Financial Management results to a sustainable success by
bringing in people with deep hospital and health care experience.
Plan and implementation of strategies provides for an increase in
revenue, improve operational efficiency and optimize the use of capital
resources.
The advantage of a strategic plan is that when times are good for the
hospital it is easy to work toward what is essentially just a Nice Idea,
if things get muddled, the strategic plan may grow out of focus.
Financial performance of the hospital is affected when its resources id
tied up in long-term investments and investment strategies. And if the
hospitals strategic plan or financial plan ends up being wrong, it may
not have the money it needs to immediately rectify a problem.