Control labor costs with a 7-pronged approach

In the past 10 years, hospitals’ efforts to control labor costs have led to a shift from reliance on workforce benchmarks to dynamic workforce management programs to track ongoing changes.

“The hospitals focusing on recruitment and retention are the ones who are winning,” says Robin Czajka, a vice president for Charlotte-based Premier Inc., a hospital advisory alliance based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

According to Czajka, there are seven keys to a more effective, contemporary approach:

1. Focus on quality — because costs follow quality.
2. Designate a leader who is an expert in the ebb and flow of workforce management.
3. Implement comparative benchmarking analysis.
4. Target where the organization is today and understand its future state.
5. Re-engineer processes and workflows to enable top-of-license work and eliminate non-value activities.
6. Restructure workflows and monitoring, adjusting to incorporate LEAN concepts.

See related article: Hospitals innovate to control labor costs