THE EFFICIENCY IMPERATIVE

While researchers have written a great deal about the need for efficiency and productivity in healthcare, they have generally approached the issue from a purely linear, calculated standpoint. As a result, the efficiency conversation is usually dominated by a sense of value-in, value-out and a focus on how each element contributes to a very specific definition of worth. It’s worth noting that despite the attention given to efficiency much of the healthcare sector is still struggling with growing costs, greater pressure on providers, and anemic bottom lines.

But a select number of innovative institutions are charting a new path, showing that steps exist to help both individuals and institutions achieve their mission while navigating through the changing healthcare landscape. These steps are accessible to any institution, but the trick is that to successfully apply these methods, institutions will need to completely reframe their concepts like productivity, effectiveness, and efficiency. In fact, nothing short of a paradigm shift in how we view and define efficiency will be required to survive the seismic changes that characterize the contemporary healthcare sector.