Managing healthcare facilities is getting more difficult by the day. Most modern patients have a consumer-based approach toward hospitals these days. This means that the old ways of managing these healthcare facilities may not cut the chase. Hospitals need efficient ways to handle various patients’ needs while maintaining the standards. If hospital management fails to provide satisfactory service to their patients or is unsuccessful in arranging the necessary equipment at the time of use, they will lose credibility.
Patients are at their most vulnerable state when they get admitted to hospitals. So, bad hospital management can not only cause a decline in patient care but also become a matter of life and death. Therefore, while focusing on patient care, here are some ways you can improve patient care for your hospital.
Create a diverse but balanced team:
A balanced management team comprised of the right members is one of the first steps toward improvement. Here, the term ‘right people’ means medical professionals from different backgrounds. Hire medical professionals who have varied skills and experience. This will add diversity to the team and help generate unique ideas to tackle various situations. This team should comprise head doctors, head nurses, and healthcare administrators. Healthcare administrators will ensure the smooth operation of necessary activities within the hospital.
In recent times, healthcare administrators have become necessary to run hospitals successfully. Due to the constant requirement for healthcare services in different sectors, health administration careers have become a vital and stable profession for people who want to pursue a career in the healthcare industry.
Set an attainable goal:
Analyze your healthcare facility to see what area needs improvement. You should also keep an eye on the new trends in the healthcare industry and compare that with your services. This will give you a bigger picture regarding what needs to be taken care of. For example, many hospitals are incorporating telehealth into their services. If you feel your hospital can also benefit from newer practices like this, you should introduce them.
After collecting this data, set a concrete goal in the areas where you think improvement is necessary. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) presented six aims to guide your goal-setting for improving a healthcare system. According to IOM, a healthcare facility should be:
- Safe: Avoid any injuries from the care that is supposed to help them.
- Effective: Providing care based on scientific knowledge
- Patient-centered: Giving treatment that honors the values and beliefs of a patient. The patient should be involved in the treatment plan.
- Timely: Reducing waiting for both the patients and the caregivers.
- Efficient: Avoid waste.
- Equitable: Providing care that is not impacted by someone’s race, color, gender, or ethnicity.
Following these guidelines should help you set attainable goals that will be easy for your management to attain.
Training of your Hospital Staff:
To accomplish the goals you have established, you need to start working on strengthening your team. First, they should be made aware of the new strategies. You can’t achieve something in your organization unless all the staff is on board. So, it is necessary that your hospital staff knows and understands the values and aims of your hospital. As for the new staff members, they should be trained well by the current management. It will enhance their skills and help them adjust better in the hospital. Hospital administration usually knows the training requirements for every hired employee. So, they make sure that every employee is getting the necessary training.
Your current staff should be highly trained in management in the technology department. They should, without a doubt, be skilled clinical practitioners. But, make sure to provide them with non-clinical training. This is essential to building managerial skills, tech skills, and informational handling skills. Your staff will be able to handle difficult situations more effectively if they have received training beforehand.
Build Effective Communication:
One of the main reasons for ineffective patient care service is the lack of communication. This includes miscommunication between doctors and staff, patients and doctors, and among the general hospital system. Focus on productive communication between the hospital staff to minimize the probability of errors. Build operative ways for staff communication to create a comfortable work environment within the hospital.
According to a review study done by M.A.Stewart, it was found “effective patient-physician communication strongly correlates to better patient health outcomes.” Therefore, doctors and other staff members must be clear and compassionate when communicating with patients. When communicating with patients, healthcare staff should discuss the illness in simpler language. Proper communication helps with delivering information more effectively. Making your patient understand their condition better will aid in their treatment plan.
Stay Patient-Centered:
Creating a team, hiring qualified professionals, providing necessary training, and building communication will be futile if you don’t have a patient-friendly facility. Every step you take and every plan you construct should be beneficial for patients. For example, if a hospital has the best equipment and renowned staff but is not readily available when the patient needs them or if the building infrastructure is too complicated, especially for older patients, you are missing the mark. Ask your patients if they are satisfied with patient-care services. If not, then what would they change? Take their suggestions. Patients are your clients, and their experiences and reviews matter a lot.
Accountability is the key:
Train your staff to take accountability for their tasks. Your team won’t succeed in achieving the set goals if your team members are not performing the duties assigned to them. Every team member should be doing their daily, weekly, and monthly duties. Moreover, if a staff member is lacking in providing services, they should be questioned. Health administrators usually observe staff’s work and thus can pick up on this behavior early on. Ignoring this behavior can cause many complications, such as burn-out in other staff members and compromised patient-care services.
Conclusion:
Managing a hospital is not an easy task. We live in an ever-developing society, which means that healthcare services also need improvement. An effectively managed healthcare facility will provide better patient care services. Patients and their comfort should be the main priority of any healthcare facility.