Becker’s, among multiple sources, report growing financial stress across hospitals as the effects of the pandemic continue to redefine our delivery system.
One of the clearest symptoms from the new normal is growing imbalance in the labor spend/costs from multiple directions: shift imbalances, skill mix, balance between cost centers, changes from inpatient to outpatient services, and the alarming recent rise of personnel turnover to unprecedented levels, to name a few. There are truly professional labor shortages that will continue to impact our ability to deliver high-quality care, and our ability to use sophisticated “engaged” management automation in our daily processes will be critical.
Benchmarking information is becoming less reliable as our business model shifts. Top-down analysis of service, quality and cost (after the fact) could create new risks.
PERFECTSHIFT may be the only work-force improvement team strategically prepared for the unique challenges of these times.
Rather than relying upon budgetary standards potentially upset by changes in the delivery system, or benchmarking rendered ineffective for the same reasons, our highly developed and automated approach of working with the front and middle level of managers to fine-tune their performance not only can yield substantial reductions in cost but create new useable benchmarks and “bought-in” standards of performance at the same time. Our process, due to the high degree of automation, can generate much higher returns on investment – 5 to 10 times – that of typical labor cost improvement projects from the larger advisory firms. Additionally, we work for fixed fees – assure success with a very simple “pay as you go” agreement, and create less work and distraction for staff and management due to the high level of useable information that comes directly in to our systems from our clients’ existing payroll and labor management systems.
Current operating conditions should, varying by service within the provider organization, offer up improvements that will be presented and agreed by your management teams of 10% to 20% of the existing labor spend as we move through the organization.
Our Senior Partners, Kevin Spellman and Doug Frank, have spent up over 30 years of their careers focused on healthcare advisory – but even more specifically on labor productivity within the healthcare provider space.
Let us schedule a few minutes to talk face to face with you in more detail about this effective and updated approach to workforce cost improvement.