Changing Attitudes: The Key to Achieving Hospital Productivity Gains
In today’s hospitals, it’s not uncommon to encounter defensiveness from inpatient unit managers who miss their productivity targets.
Eric is an expert in hospital operations. Eric’s quarter-century experience has been rooted both in theory and practice. As a Principal for Compass Group, Inc., Eric uses his specialized talents to address critical areas such as administration, operations, planning, information systems, and finance—with focused emphasis on hospital and patient care services redesign, organizational development, and the monitoring and improvement of productivity and business systems functions. Throughout Eric’s career, he has remained focused on operations and process improvement. Prior to joining Compass Group, Eric was the Owner and Partner of O’Neill Heathcare Resources, a company which worked on the philosophy that, “One must have the ability to have open, trusting communications with clients.” This philosophy allowed for a thorough understanding of problems and opportunities, and the ability to adapt quickly to diverse organization environments. The end result—not being seen as simply just a consultant, but as a successful partner needed to make essential changes. In addition, Eric served as a Senior Associate with Eric Canter Associates and Jacobson Consulting, Inc., where he provided consulting development and management services to hospitals, healthcare systems, integrated delivery networks, freestanding medical facilities, and ambulatory care. He was also Vice President for the largest pediatric medical center in the Untied States, where he managed clinical, professional, and support areas; and also served as Associate Professor in the Graduate Program of Hospital and Health Administration at Xavier University. Eric has the innate ability to apply his profound knowledge of hospital operations and apply it toward bottom-line hospital improvements, resulting in reduced average length of stay, improved materials/management/purchasing systems, advanced productivity monitoring systems, and, above all, educating managers on how to manage their labor expenses without negatively impacting the desired retention of full-time staff. Eric holds a Master’s in Hospital Administration from Xavier University, as well as an undergraduate degree in Industrial Psychology from Middle Tennessee State University.
In today’s hospitals, it’s not uncommon to encounter defensiveness from inpatient unit managers who miss their productivity targets.
By Eric Dam, MHA, Principal, Labor Cost Management, Compass Clinical Consulting: In interviews conducted with senior Chief Financial Officers of hospitals it is abundantly clear that there is a fear to pursue improved productivity / Labor Cost Management. Many hospital leaders, especially in the non-profit sector of the healthcare industry, fear productivity or are otherwise reluctant to pursue a formal productivity assessment and coordinated program to improve their labor cost management.
By Eric Dam: If policies for clocking staff in and out is not addressed regularly, you will have an almost silent vacuum cleaner sucking badly needed financial resources out the door every day until suddenly a financial emergency hits the wall.
Smoothing out the claims cycle should involve careful scrutiny of claims before they are sent to payors to ensure they are properly coded and edited.