KENNESAW, GA / ACCESS Newswire / March 11, 2025 / Healthcare can be a stressful field, especially in recent years. And while some of the factors contributing to this stress can be outside of our control like global pandemics and labor shortages, simplifying daily operations in your healthcare facility can make a big difference in reducing that stress and chaos. In this article, we'll go over some key tips for doing just that.
Develop a Patient-Centered Approach
As healthcare providers, we exist for the patient, and it's important to stay focused on this and remember that's our goal. This is why it is crucial to have a patient centered approach when it comes to your healthcare facility. Just as our jobs can be stressful, visiting the hospital for yourself or a loved one, or seeing a loved one in a skilled nursing facility, can be even more overwhelming. Additionally, focusing on patients and their families and ensuring they have a good experience prevents major issues down the line in terms of rehospitalizations, reputation of your facility, and much more. It can improve patient outcomes, help staff, and reduce costly operational errors. Some of the top ways you can work to develop a patient-centered approach include:
Collect patient feedback and implement real changes based on that feedback.
Train staff in communicating clearly to patients about their appointments, procedures, and care plan.
Allow for shared decision making, meaning your patients are actively involved in their treatment plans and understand the next steps.
Involve family members and other caregivers in discussions about care plans and make sure they are well educated on them.
Ensure there is a continuity of care between various services and departments at your facility.
Aim for Operational Efficiency
When your facility is not operating at maximum efficiency, it can increase the risk of errors as well as incur unnecessary costs. This can certainly be stressful for those in a leadership position, but errors and obstacles to efficient patient care can also be stressful for those out on the floor. Additionally, making sure your facility is operating efficiently can also have benefits for patients and their families, which can help you to develop and enhance your facility's patient centered approach. Some of the key ways you can improve your operation's efficiency include:
Identify bottlenecks and work to alleviate them (online check in is a great example).
Use technology such as patient portals, appointment reminders, etc.
Train staff in any new technology to ensure they can use EHRs to their maximum capacity, assist patients with things like patient portals, and more.
Identify key issues your facility is facing, whether it be hospital acquired infections, frequent rehospitalizations, delays in treatment, or any other issues and work to implement solutions to those problems.
Enhance Communication and Collaboration
Effective communication is another key factor in making sure your healthcare facility is running smoothly. If departments are not working well together or not communicating the patients' needs accurately, it can create a whole host of issues. Additionally, outside of just communication, you want to foster true collaboration between departments. This can help staff morale, and effective collaborations can really help to solve key issues. Ways to improve communication and enhance collaborations include:
Foster a culture where employees feel that they can express concerns, ask questions, and offer feedback to their superiors without fear of pushback.
Train staff in communication basics, both for patients and other team members.
Use structured communication methods or frameworks for communicating when it comes to patients and their status to ensure no valuable information is left out.
Organize team building activities or opportunities for various departments to come together in a way they might not regularly.
Lead by example when it comes to effective communication, active participation, collaboration, and respecting members of your team.
Allow opportunities for shared decision making and knowledge sharing between team members.
BenCura Rehabilitation Services is a premier contract rehabilitation service committed to providing quality care to patients. BenCura partners with acute care and critical access hospitals and skilled nursing facilities to provide high quality physical, speech, and occupational therapy at a lower cost than traditional in-house models. For more information about BenCura Rehabilitation Services and our partnership with hospitals and long-term care facilities, please visit: bencura.com.
CONTACT:
855.423.6287
info@bencura.com
SOURCE: BenCura
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