Assessing the Impact of Medical Laboratory Resource Allocations on Hospital Finances.

The relationship between resource allocation decisions within medical laboratory cost centers and overall hospital financial performance is empirically investigated using a panel of critical access hospitals in Washington State (2014-2016). In order to increase accessibility to hospital managers and health policy makers, a managerial finance perspective (defining performance using simple financial accounting ratios) is adopted. Results indicate that resource allocation decisions within the medical laboratory cost center have a significant impact on the financial performance of the hospital as a whole. However, the nature of the impact depends on the type of financial metric utilized. For instance, the proportion of the typical medical laboratory's budget that is allocated to rent is negatively and significantly related to the hospital's return on assets. Concomitantly, medical laboratory cost centers that have a larger footprint in the hospital (as measured by square footage) exhibit a significant, positive association with the hospital's current ratio. Thus, physically larger medical laboratories may allow the hospital to better manage its liquid assets.

The diabetes disease state management exemplar.

One relatively new method of providing care to patients with chronic disease is disease state management (DSM). Diabetes is particularly interesting to study because it is not only one of the most prevalent chronic diseases, but it is also a disease for which DSM is highly cost effective. Similarly, registered nurses represent the group of practitioners most likely to provide a comprehensive set of DSM activities. This experiment was conducted in fall 2005 at a nationally recognized diabetes center which is affiliated with a large, full service medical center. The results suggest at least three forms of content delivery--in-class, at-home study packets, and online modules--are all equally effective at enhancing diabetes DSM knowledge.

Economic impact of pharmacy graduates on a regional economy.

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the impact of recent pharmacy graduates on a local economy. METHODS: Input-output analysis was applied to data from Spokane County, Washington, in 2006 and the findings were reviewed and conclusions were drawn. RESULTS: The local college of pharmacy added nearly $1 million (in 2006) directly to the local economy. New pharmacists added nearly $400,000 in direct value. However, because the graduates alleviated a shortage of pharmacists in the area, thereby avoiding both the tangible and intangible (eg, human health) economic costs of a continued shortage, the true economic impact may have been even greater. CONCLUSIONS: Doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) graduates entering the workforce add substantial value, both to the local retail pharmacy industry specifically and the local economy in general. Thus, the economic impact of the pharmacy practice program training these students is also substantial.

How to improve patient satisfaction when patients are already satisfied: a continuous process-improvement approach.

The authors present a methodology that measures improvement in customer satisfaction scores when those scores are already high and the production process is slow and thus does not generate a large amount of useful data in any given time period. The authors used these techniques with data from a midsized rehabilitation institute affiliated with a regional, nonprofit medical center. Thus, this article functions as a case study, the findings of which may be applicable to a large number of other healthcare providers that share both the mission and challenges faced by this facility. The methodology focused on 2 factors: use of the unique characteristics of panel data to overcome the paucity of observations and a dynamic benchmarking approach to track process variability over time. By focusing on these factors, the authors identify some additional areas for process improvement despite the institute's past operational success.