Dramatic efforts to foster a positive, engaged corporate culture are a hallmark of tech giants like Google, Facebook, and others, who are well known for providing luxurious work spaces and amenities to their employees.
This focus on building a culture of engagement and loyalty has gained attention from a wide range of industries in recent years – and some experts would argue that healthcare should get on board.
In an article published on Becker’s Hospital Review in February titled, The Google Approach: How Hospitals Can Create Cultures That Drive Employee Engagement, Satisfaction, the author explains that Google’s approach is 100% data-driven, based on the results of the many employee surveys they conduct each year.
Britt Berrett, PhD, President of Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas and co-author of the book Patients Come Second, says a scientific approach like Google’s is “absolutely appropriate” for hospitals and health systems.
“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it,” Berrett says.
Harnessing data to drive improvements doesn’t only apply to employee engagement, however. Healthcare providers can use data to help drive a wide range of improvement initiatives throughout the hospital – from patient throughput to discharge processes to staff scheduling.
“Many hospitals are working with last-generation technology,” explains Steve Jourdan, CEO of BedWatch. “Modern technology provides countless advantages over the older systems, not least because technology has become so incredibly cost effective.”
Jourdan explains that hundreds of U.S. hospitals have historically been underserved when it comes to technology, simply due to the cost-prohibitive hardware and maintenance fees associated with older, server-based systems.
With increased scrutiny on hospital performance, Jourdan argues that hospitals should be looking at their data for ways to drive improvement and increase efficiency, hospital-wide.
“Creating a top-down focus on performance improvement and innovation is critical for today’s hospitals, and data is a great tool to help make that happen,” Jourdan says. “Providing objective support for an initiative or goal and including key players in the process is absolutely critical if you want to be successful.”
Sarah Strumwasser, senior director of research and insights for The Advisory Board, agrees.
“Having the data to support where your greatest opportunities are really helps to gain buy-in from the workforce,” Strumwasser says in the Becker’s Hospital Review article. “Without that data-driven approach, you’re often relying on word of mouth or what your managers and directors are hearing from the most vocal individuals.”
Read the full article, The Google Approach: How Hospitals Can Create Cultures That Drive Employee Engagement, Satisfaction, on the Becker’s Hospital Review website.
Learn more about BedWatch and our patient throughput management tools.
Learn more about BedWatch CEO Steve Jourdan and the rest of our team.
