05 Apr Manage accountability, measure success
Clinicians are discovering new ways to apply the point-to-point knowledge that a granular location information system provides.
The hospital is not an island unto itself. As executives in health care management, we must commit ourselves to responsibility beyond the walls of our own hospitals – to patients and staff, and in service to the community and country, and, yes, even the global health care cooperative. It is our responsibility to marry the resources available to us: capable and caring staff, and the most advanced technology and innovative ideas. We must be willing to turn from antiquated health care delivery systems, embrace new mechanisms for process improvement and document our discoveries.
Challenges to the delivery of care are innumerable. Some factors are external: fewer facilities to serve more patients, a nationwide nursing shortage, the uninsured or underinsured, and costly liability coverage. Other causes are internal, such as lack of standardization, communication and follow-through. Sometimes challenges stem from equipment being misplaced, misused or mis-maintained. Oftentimes, however, challenges are people-related: demanding family members, self-diagnosing patients and unwillingness to adopt a new model of care. Very often barriers to care delivery are a simple matter of logistics: Patient A is missing a consent form, Patient B is missing his dentures and Patient C is just plain missing.
How do we control costs and account for the many variables that affect the right care to the right patient at the right time?
The lexicon of our discussion must begin with real-time location systems (RTLS), which are helping hospitals to overcome challenges to the delivery of high-quality care with innovative, substantial and timely solutions. It is in this vein that we will orchestrate continual improvements to the health care landscape. We can deliver a remarkable patient experience and support a “Magnet status” professional practice environment. And we can do so while improving safety and satisfaction for patients and staff alike.
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