Access to Care - a Cornerstone of Healthcare

Access to timely care – and the right level of care – is a cornerstone of healthcare.  Not only is a patients access to care critical – sometimes life or death, but the quality of care received throughout the patients length of stay is just as important.  And patient care ties directly to satisfaction scores which is something all hospitals / health systems monitor.  Add to those challenges – manual vs. automated processes, a change in payer mix, consolidations & labor shortages – which is why having a strategic plan in place becomes more important than ever.

A few weeks ago, we were in New York City and Chicago for an executive forum focused on patient access and patient flow.  Throughout the course of some great discussions, we had the opportunity to learn how some of you are dealing with the issue of access and what you’re still working through.  There are a lot of common issues and some common solutions.  Executive Healthcare Advisor and Board Member Tim Chapman, talked about five key imperatives in the most recent issue of TeleTracking’s Patient Flow Quarterly™.

• Grow strategically and operationally – There is a minimum level of scale to compete, particularly as hospitals take on more risk-based contracts.  As a result, bed and OR capacity and availability will be essential preconditions for successful growth.

• Become more productive –Increasing staff productivity makes it possible for healthcare providers to spend more time on patient care, reduce request-to-admission time, decrease and/or eliminate diversions. Nurses and physicians should be caring for patients, not spending inordinate amounts of time on emails, data entry and hunting for equipment.

• Achieve superior quality–By giving more staff more time with patients, the overall patient and family experience is enhanced, which is becoming increasingly important due to value0 ad risk-based contracting.

• Re-imagine hospital cost structure–Improved staff productivity and effectively managing bed and OR capacity results in a corresponding increase in patient intake. Adding capacity to deal with operational issues is no longer a viable strategy. Hospitals must manage their processes effectively and maximize use of existing clinical and non-clinical capacity.

• Win the war for talent–Healthcare staffers want to work for organizations that are well run and allow them to do the patient care work for which they are trained.  Reducing the “turnover and on-boarding tax” is essential to long-term success.

Want to learn even more about how to deal with today’s changing landscape?   Read the whole article by clicking here.

If you missed our Patient Access Executive Forum in New York or Chicago, consider joining us in Denver on September 8, 2016 at the Magnolia Hotel.  For more information contact us at info@teletracking.com or 800-331-3603.