A performance improvement process undertaken by a northeastern health system exemplifies fundamental principles that should characterize all such efforts.
Most healthcare organizations are feeling the pressure to get to a “new normal” cost of care while continuing to improve the quality, patient experience, and outcomes of services they deliver in their communities. Three categories of performance-improvement activities typically are required:
- Margin improvement through optimizing labor, nonlabor, revenue cycle, and other “core” costs
- Business and service-line right-sizing and right-siting to optimize the delivery network
- Clinical transformation to enhance care delivery efficiency and quality