Nonfinancial Performance Measures Discussion
Nonfinancial Performance Measures Discussion
Hello,
I need 2 different discussion posts for a healthcare financial management class. Please make sure they have a different analyzation and ideas. the deadline is 16-20 hours
Respond to the following question (minimum 200 words) and provide at least two responses to others.
Since the late 1980’s there has been an ever-increasing emphasis in business on the use of a combination of financial and nonfinancial performance measures. Facilitating this increasing interest is the rapidly escalating rate of change in the business environment, which in turn, has led to dissatisfaction with traditional backward looking performance measurement systems. Critics argue that traditional financial performance measures are not consistent with today’s business environment, lack predictive power, reinforce functional silos, may sacrifice long-term thinking, and are not relevant to many levels of the organization. Many suggest that it is increasingly necessary for all major businesses to evaluate and modify their performance measures in order to adapt to the rapidly changing and highly competitive business environment. As a result, we should treat financial measures as one among a broader set of measures and the inclusion of nonfinancial performance measures substantially enhances decision-making quality providing information that financial ratios do not.
Hospitals today require measures that provide better information across a wider scope to achieve understanding of the critical factors that create the foundations of future success. Organizational performance measures should reflect and manage those attributes in order to achieve overall financial health. Consequently, a paradigm shift is occurring and organizations are replacing their existing traditionally measurement systems with ones that reflect their current objectives and environment. The frameworks employed are multidimensional, explicitly balancing financial and non-financial measures, and leading and lagging indicators.
List and provide justification for three nonfinancial performance measures you feel are critical to your project. How you will determine successful achievement of these measures?
DO NOT FORGET THAT I NEED 2 DIFFERENT POSTS
Post to response I need 4 of them please
by Christopher
Despite the thorough and methodical review of an organization financial performance measures provide, non-financial performance measures must be integrated to the overall review process to determine organizational success and performance.
One non-financial performance measure critical to the success of healthcare organizations is the culture of the business. Organizational culture often determines employee motivation, cohabitation, and interaction with patients. Like with all other businesses, a positive organizational culture determines the ability of processes to be performed effectively and efficiently. A positive organizational culture can also create high levels of employee satisfaction. A healthy organizational culture must be created for any business to be successful. Positive culture can be created by establishing effective communication for all parties in the organization and providing each party with equal responsibility and authority.
A second non-financial performance measure determining success of organizations is employee satisfaction. Employee satisfaction can determine the workforce’s notion of the work they are completing. If employees enjoy the workplace and their coworkers, they are likely to be motivated in the work that they are tasked with completing and likely to have positive interactions with patients. An organization must provide healthy working conditions for their employees to create employee satisfaction. The organization would also be wise to offer many benefits to employees to show their employees that they are valued and invested in employee well-being.
Design and development is a final non-financial performance measure. Design and development in organizations would solidify the responsibility to continually improve its processes. Continuous improvement would certainly insure increases in quality of care provided and efficiency of primary operating activities. This can be achieved by partnering with professional organizations and research institutions to explore new, innovative and revolutionary processes.
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by Robert
According to our lecture slides operating indicator analysis involves the use of operating data as opposed to financial statement data to try to explain a business’s financial condition. Operating indicator analysis helps managers to understand the underlying operating conditions which helps them to better tackle financial problem areas.
The first crucial nonfinancial performance measure I would use for my project is staff-to-patient ratio. Having adequate staff is important for the success of a facility to ensure patient safety, patient satisfaction, and employee retention. Many facilities suffer due to inadequate staffing and overworked employees. This can lead to improper care techniques and high employee turnover. It is important to also determine the appropriate amount of staff within different areas of the facility as acuity can impact staff-to-patient ratios.
The second performance measure I would focus on is fall risks. Patients who are at increased risk of falling can impact the financial health of a facility because patients do not pay for most services after a fall. It is crucial to minimize the risk of patient falls and ensure patient safety. Furthermore, analyzing staff-to-patient ratios can assist in minimizing fall risk since these areas are directly related. If a facility does not have enough staff to quickly respond to bed alarms or call bells patients could be at an increased risk of falling.
A third nonfinancial performance measure important to my project is hand hygiene. Practicing good hand hygiene is important in healthcare to minimize the spread of germs and infection. Good hand hygiene can help to keep employees heathy and minimize the spread of infection to other patients . Employees who are healthy will spend less time out sick and be able to provide more quality patient care.
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By Paul
The overall performance of an organization can be evaluated by using their profits and other financial measures, but the nonfinancial measures tend to hold more weight to show how well the company is actually thriving.
The first nonfinancial measure that is critical is employee satisfaction. If the employees are not happy or satisfied with their employment, the company will suffer. As employees are more dissatisfied, they are more likely to leave the company causing a higher turnover. Turnover can become very expensive for companies as they have to initiate a new recruitment and hiring process to refill positions. A good way to evaluate employee satisfaction is through surveys. By giving employees anonymous surveys, an organization can get information on how satisfied people are at their job. High job satisfaction scores positively correlate with success of this measure.
Another nonfinancial measure is infection rates. One of the main goals for healthcare is to treat and prevent infections. It is important to evaluate infection rate, especially in the inpatient setting, to make sure that this goal is being achieved. Catheter acquired urinary tract infections and post-operative infections are two good infection rates to track to evaluate performance. The lower the infection rates, the better performance and better quality of care. These two measures are good because there are protocols set in place to help prevent these infections. Hospitals that have lower infection rates can also use that statistic to market their excellent quality of care.
The final nonfinancial measure would be patient satisfaction. Patient satisfaction is important to show that the organization is taking good care of its patients. This measure would be tracked and evaluated using patient satisfaction scores in which higher scores would mean better performance. Unfortunately, this measure is very subjective. I have had patient complain that my care of them was less than satisfactory because I did not give them antibiotics for their viral infection. I have also read ER reports in which the plan of care was not appropriate for the patient’s diagnosis, but the patient rated their overall care as excellent because they liked how the provider did what the patient wanted. Organizations that are focused on patient satisfaction surveys may pressure providers to give patients what they want even though it is not best for the patient.
In conclusion, there are many aspects of healthcare without an attached dollar sign that show the true performance of an organization that are more beneficial than most financial measures.
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by Charles
Remaining profitable isn’t the only measure of success for a hospital. It is important for hospitals to look inward and measure how they are conducting themselves and determine if they are following best practices. If they are not, then their future financial performance reports will likely suffer. A proactive approach to measuring nonfinancial performance measures will help keep a hospital in business. Here are three critical nonfinancial performance measures:
Caregiver to Patient Ratio
This ratio can be for nurse to patient, doctor to patient, or both. These measures are important for multiple reasons, with the most important being patient safety and employee satisfaction. If there are too many patients for one nurse then they may not receive the care they need in a timely manner, and if a doctor has too many patients then there is an increased risk of medical errors that will adversely affect the patient. Too high of a ratio will also negatively affect employee morale, so making sure it is at a safe level is critical for organizational success. The best way to determine if we have successfully achieved an acceptable level for this measure is by monitoring the ratios over time and comparing them to best practice guidelines for nurse/doctor to patient ratios.
Readmissions
My final research paper for HCA 500 was about the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP), which is a program implemented by the ACA designed to reduce the number of preventable readmissions in hospitals. If a hospital had more preventable readmissions than the national average, then they would receive reduced Medicare reimbursements. Avoiding these reduced repayments, as well as avoiding the cost of care for these preventable readmissions, will be critical for the hospital’s success. To determine if we are successfully meeting this measure, we will monitor our readmission rates and compare it to national averages. If we are above average, then it should be considered a success as we will no longer be receiving reduced payments.
Patient satisfaction
Perhaps no other measure is more important for predicting future success than patient satisfaction scores. If patients were not happy with their experience at the hospital then they are less likely to return, and they will also likely share their experiences with others which may deter them from seeking care there as well. Therefore, monitoring patient satisfaction and acting on the results will be critical for the success of the hospital. We can measure patient satisfaction through our HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) scores. Two of the questions on the HCAHPS deal with patient satisfaction, so we will monitor the responses to those questions to determine if we are successfully reaching our desired scores.
Monitoring these nonfinancial performance measures will be critical for the success of the hospital, and if the scores for these measures start to suffer then financial performance will start to suffer as well.
-Joe