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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – It’s no secret that healthcare costs in the United States are on the rise. One unexpected visit to an emergency room can leave patients with a large bill, and that’s after what their insurance covers. While every area of healthcare seems out of reach as far as affordability to the consumer, they are not the only ones feeling these affects. Healthcare facilities such as hospitals and private practitioners are also losing profits. The good news is that there are several ways to drive down costs of services.
Joining a Group Purchasing Organization
A GPO, or Group Purchasing Organization, can help hospitals and private sector medical establishments reduce the costs of things like medical equipment and supplies. As a group, they have the advantage of accessibility, which in turn allows them to acquire discounts above and beyond what most doctors or hospitals can accomplish on their own. Joining a GPO will also not interfere with your established relationship with current suppliers. Another benefit of joining a GPO Organization is that as your practice needs evolve they remain in contact with your suppliers and, as such, will know when new services come along that may offer additional savings.
Relieving Repetitive Tasks
The turnover of nurses and caregivers in facilities is happening at an alarming rate. When nurses experience burnout they often begin to look for another job. While the salaries are good, the job often entails long hours and lots of hours consumed on paperwork. Despite nursing programs showing an improvement in enrollments, many of the nurses currently employed are close to their retirement. As a result, nurses are soon to be in high demand. In order to attract more people to become nurses, many facilities are adopting technology and using it as a way to free up their nurses’ time for patient care. Software designed for staff scheduling, analytics tools, and biosensors that patients can wear to monitor the vital signs are just a few of the new technologies available today.
In-Home Care
Many hospitals are adopting new technologies that help to shorten a patient’s hospital stay while increasing the number of patients who are receiving personal care at home. Provided the patient is not in a state of distress and their vital signs are normal, doctors can monitor them from the comfort of their own homes. One such technology is the Admit-To-Home program, which is just as it states: someone who receives care in the emergency room and, rather than going through an admissions process, they return home. Doctors then keep an eye on them through wireless monitoring which periodically checks their vital signs, any movements, and their sleep patterns. This new technology lets the patient return home sooner so the bill is much less, frees up rooms at the hospital, and reduces staff fatigue–all without reducing quality care to patients.
Cross-Training
Some medical facilities, especially smaller private practices, are already well underway with the adoption of cross-training employees. This benefits your practice in several different ways. First, it saves you money by letting you reduce your staff. And, secondly, it keeps your business operating like a fine-tuned automobile, where even if someone is out sick, paperwork and other daily tasks don’t fall behind and affect patient care.
Find Ways to Reduce Costs on Procedures
Many times a hospital will opt to give additional testing to patients while they are already at the hospital. However, having them stay an extra day can drastically pad a bill for patients and limit the amount of time a nurse on the floor can attend to the needs of other patients.
Improve Deficiencies
Many preventable infections, such as sepsis, happen in hospitals. By taking the necessary steps to reduce readmissions for this and similar issues, you can avoid additional costs. And, since the amount of money a hospital receives from the government in reimbursements depends on these initiatives, the better the quality of patient care, the higher the reimbursement.
Costs across the board for medical facilities are at an all-time high. However, there are ways to reduce expenses and pass some of the savings on to your patients.