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Nearly 1 in 5 healthcare workers have quit their jobs during the pandemic, with nursing being hit hardest. As evidenced in the Morning Consult Study, it is validated that nurses are burnt out and suffering from emotional and physical fatigue, and it is only getting worse. But we don’t need statistics to prove that. We are in the third year of a pandemic, and we all feel it. Quality, personalized communication between nursing staff and administration has NEVER been as important as it is now. We need to lean on innovative technologies that connect caregivers to patients and processes to administration. This is not only to provide visibility to their needs but also to streamline and automate their administrative tasks, freeing them up for focused clinical efforts. Make their lives easier and a kinder way to get their work done.  

So what does reducing waste in healthcare mean?  Healthcare waste is defined as time, dollars, and services that do not add value - and can sometimes harm the patient.  What it means is achieving the nirvana of triple aim – better care, better health, and lower cost.

Despite efforts to control healthcare spending in the United States, costs continue to soar.  To combat healthcare costs on the rise, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) developed a Leadership Alliance Waste workgroup.  This group is made up of 54 healthcare organizations working together to develop a strategy to reduce waste in healthcare by 50% over the next five years.¹  In this blog, we are taking a look at some of their most successful concepts and aligning them with innovative, executable strategies.

For anyone who attended the FONE 2019 Educational Conference, it was evident the focus was promoting healthy work environments using evidence-based practices.  Let's recap what the leaders spoke about, and leave you with a few things to consider that will elevate your staff engagement moving forward! 

A large number of leaders in healthcare agree that staff engagement within a hospital is an essential component for delivering quality patient care, with an empathetic experience, that will result in the best clinical outcomes.  Since most of the insurance reimbursements are tied to quality measures, staff engagement has become progressively more essential to healthcare organizations’ bottom line.  Amid the competitive landscape and caregiver shortages, organizations are faced with the challenge of vying for the most qualified candidates. 

HCAHPS – who knew that six letters could have such an impact on an organization? Low HCAHPS scores can result in a  loss of revenue, an unfavorable reputation in the community, public reporting of unsatisfactory scores, and potential downsizing of programs and/or employees.  Are your patient satisfaction scores lower than you expected?  It’s time to take a look at the consistency of your nurse leader rounding.