As societies change, so does how we treat the individuals in them.
Healthcare is personal, and everyone wants to improve the experience for their patients. But while new technologies and practices are introduced daily, innovation in healthcare can still be difficult to promote and track.
Healthcare is a huge industry on both a macro and micro level. Most systems span multiple hospitals, extended care facilities, clinics, and more, so when changes are made to layouts, hand-offs, or discharging, how can you be sure you’re changing things for the better?
Here are 12 actionable metrics your healthcare institution can track to make sure your changes are making a positive difference for your organization and patients.
Employee engagement – Improving the percentage of workers that are attentive and committed to doing their best on the job
Percentage of People in Leadership – Assigning new heads of teams and departments for faster problem solving and empowerment
Readmission Rates – Lowering the number of patients that return for care due to misdiagnosis or treatment
Emergency room visits – Saving precious time and resources by ensuring patients are approaching the correct care options
Mortality – Saving lives through improvements to services, care, and equipment
Patient engagement – Improving both ends of communication to improve overall satisfaction
Expenses per visit – Lowering costs pushed to insurance providers or patients themselves
Costs per employee – Improving human resource efficiency and overall operating costs
Patient wait time – Reducing wait times to get patient issues addressed quickly
Room usage – Making changes to save time and resources through space efficiency
Insurance processing – Saving time and costs by streamlining data handling, entry, and communication times
Mistake events and errors – Reducing mistakes by department, procedure, or system-wide
With any continuous improvement or innovation program, you must identify metrics to track the effectiveness of the changes you’re making. Whether monetary like operating costs or billing, or related to human capital like employee surveys or patient satisfaction, determine a result or goal and how you can track your movement towards it.
If the changes you’re making aren’t leading towards your goal, adjust or pivot and continue to track. Not every change or innovation in healthcare will be an immediate success. Innovation management and strategy in healthcare and other industries is a long-term and continuous process, and outside factors like advancements in technology and changes in legislature only further the need to stay vigilant in your efforts to improve.
Are you currently tracking any of these metrics?
What changes are you making to improve innovation in healthcare services at your location?
Let us know below!