Benchmarking_an_Organization

Benchmarking an Organization Introduction The Lenity Hospital for Advanced Care (LHAC) is a health care organization that is having some issues and has asked for my help in finding some new ways in which to find the root cause of their issues and correct them. The director wants to make sure that his organization is the best around and that they are running as efficiently as it possibly can. I want to start out talking about the root cause of LHAC’s problems and move on from there. Root Cause of Problem Lenity Hospital has a rising nosocomial infection rate and the director and his associates have asked me to come in and try to find out the cause of this dilemma. After looking over all the information and what we are dealing with here I have come up with the cause and that is that LHAC is inefficiently managing their equipment and this is giving rise to the infections that are going on at the hospital lately. After letting them know that I have identified their cause they decided to make the needed changes. Equipment records were showing that the nosocomial infection rate was high for the emergency room, gastroenterology, and in obstetrics and gynecology departments, which are all surgical departments. One reason for the hospital’s inefficient equipment management is that they were spending money buying equipment that they already had and there was no tracking system or procedure to find out where the machines were going and when. All this caused patient care to be delayed and the nurses’ end up administering medications and use equipment without properly sanitizing it first. The nurses have no way of knowing if the equipment was sanitized after a patient’s use or not. Now that the problem has been corrected it can begin correcting the situation. As far as doing anything differently I do not feel that I could do anything differently because the choice that I made will help LHAC in reducing the amount of nosocomial infections the hospitals sees due to inefficient equipment management. Airways When trying to decide on what I could recommend to improve the equipment management process at LHAC I came up with these two suggestions. The first suggestion is to appoint inventory clerks to keep track of all the equipment and when it is being used and by what department. The second suggestion is to have the equipment terminally cleaned after each patient so that all equipment is sanitized. I made these suggestions because I felt that they were the best ones suited to solve the issue at hand and could make a major improvement on how things were ran in the hospital. The outcome of these suggestions was that when the equipment was not in use the inventory would reside in Central Services since LHAC has now started a centralized inventory system. Now when equipment is required it’s available without the nurses on duty having to make a bunch of frantic phone calls looking for what they need for a patient. Patients are now able to receive what they need when they need it without having a long waiting period which could cause a delay in care. These suggestions helped to solve the problem of tracking terminal cleaning, eased the work pressures on the nurses and even reduced the cost to the hospital. I do not think that I would do anything differently next time because the suggestions that I had were the ones that solved the issues at hand and helped reduce costs and patient waiting time. Who to Choose As a Benchmarking Partner After careful consideration of all the facts and information on all the acceptable applicants for a benchmarking partner for LHAC I decided that the best choice would have to be the organization of Rose and Ruth General. They have great accreditations, are a good size and are mature, meaning that they have been an organization for at least a minimum of five years. Rose and Ruth General have a lot of similarities with LHAC and that is a good thing to have when looking for a benchmarking partner. Rose and Ruth General is a little larger than Lenity Hospital as far as bed size, but this just means that they can accommodate more patients and can provide quality care to those who need it and help out wherever they are needed. They are a great choice for a partner when it comes to choosing the best one based upon size, quality, accreditations and similarity. It’s always a good thing to find one that has things in common with your hospital so that you know that they are out to accomplish the same goals as you. I honestly do not feel that I would do anything differently because I think that I made the best choice for the hospital and that having Rose and Ruth General as a benchmarking partner will help both facilities in the end. They can each be there for the other when there is a problem and can pick up any slack if need be. I think that they make a great team and will go far in their success. How to Improve Our Process When it came to figuring out the best way to improve the process strategy I had a hard time deciding because the choice I made would have to be one that was the most beneficial to the hospital and have the most cost effective result. I decided to choose the improvement strategy of reducing the equipment inventory. Doing so will reduce inventory costs to 7.55 percent compared to Rose and Ruth General who is at 7.35 percent. The carrying costs of equipment will also reduce to 6.30 percent and this is down from the current cost of 10.26 percent. Next time I would look to see if there was any other ways in which to improve any strategy processes and figure out what was the most efficient and cost effective way to do things. A Way to End Things I have learned so much from doing this simulation project, such as how to identify the root cause of a problem, how to find the best recommendations for improving a situation, choosing the best benchmarking partner, and how to come up with good ways to improve upon strategies for the different processes that there are when running a successful hospital or other organization. I have learned that it takes a lot of decision making and going over facts and figures to determine what the right move for a hospital is and taking everything into consideration so that you do not make a mistake in what you choose to do about any problems that may arise. There are directors and hospital board members who are counting on you to make the right decision for their organization and trust you to do what is best for everyone involved. I would apply what I have learned through this simulation to my future job by always being observant of what goes on within an organization and trying to discover new ways to help improve upon any areas that may require some attention. I would want to ensure that my organization is running at its best and that we continue to provide quality and affordable health care to all those who are in need of it. I think that by making some informed decisions any hospital can correct a situation when need be. It takes a lot to find the root cause of a problem, but if you can find it and choose the best solution you can turn a negative into a positive and make your organization more successful in the end (Shortell & Kulnzy 2006). There are so many more things that I have to learn when it comes to making such important decisions and then giving my suggestions or recommendations to the director and other board members. Things are ever changing and that just goes to show you that we must always stay up to date on the changing trends and keep updated on what goes on within our facilities and organizations so that they can prosper and thrive in this business. Reference Shortell, S.M. & Kaluzny, A.D. (2006). Health care management: Organization, design, and behavior. (5th ed.). Albany, NY: Delmar. Retrieved October 23, 2010.