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At least 631 records · Page 35Linked to original sources
PubMed2001

Measuring organizational performance in the hospital industry: an exploratory comparison of objective and subjective methods.

One of the major challenges facing health services management researchers is the measurement of various aspects of organizational performance. This challenge is exacerbated by a reluctance of many healthcare organizations to share data with researchers because of a fear of competitor access to these data. Even where objective, reliable and valid measures of organizational performance are available, typically they are available only in aggregate form, rather than for individual organizations. In response to these constraints, researchers have used subjective measures of performance often based on the perception of key executives. This research compares the subjective perceptions of hospital executives to the objective financial performance data of 60 hospitals. While the correlations between the subjective and objective measures vary, return of assets (ROA) and operating margin are the most valid subjective financial measures of hospital performance. Implications for future research are discussed.

Accounts Payable and Receivable↗
PubMed2005

The new GMS contract: impact and implications for managing the changes.

BACKGROUND: In February 2003, a new General Practitioner (GP) contract was agreed between the profession's leaders and the government, which was later accepted following a national ballot of GPs. However, the ballot simply required respondents to vote for or against the proposal; it did not provide any opportunity to identify which aspects of the new contract were more or less acceptable. Since the proposed changes were far reaching, the implications of implementing and managing these were considerable. Consequently, some information about how GPs viewed various components of the new contract would enable a more targeted and effective management strategy to be developed that would facilitate the introduction of all aspects of the contract. OBJECTIVES: To survey GPs working within the West Midlands region regarding their opinions on each of the key features of the new contract. METHOD: A postal survey of 360 GPs was undertaken, using a specially devised questionnaire. RESULTS: Four factors emerged as the most acceptable aspects of the contract: option to opt out of out-of-hours work, flexibility in the services provided, prediction of future income levels and linking practice to performance targets. Least acceptable were: performance monitoring systems, the new financial formula for calculating income, greater patient involvement in service development and 24/48 hour access. With regard to potential outcomes of the contract, the most positive were considered to be increased proportion of salaried GPs, increased salaries, appropriate quality standards for care, earlier retirement; the factors least likely to be of potential benefit were: reduction in occupational stress, simplification of the regulatory framework, improved equity of workload and improved staff retention. Further analysis of the results using inferential statistics revealed a range of subgroup differences in reaction to the contract. CONCLUSION: Overall, those aspects of the new contract that are perceived to reduce workload and enhance salary were supported, while those that increase targets and bureaucracy were not. Generally, there was only moderate support for the changes, which could be explained by a general scepticism about any top-down modifications, the practicality and power of the changes to impact upon practice and/or a genuine belief that the modifications are unacceptable. Taken together, these results provide an indicative focus for managing the implementation of the new contract, especially with regard to its least acceptable components and the emerging differences between subgroups of GPs.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed2003

Efficiency and productivity change in the English National Health Service: can data envelopment analysis provide a robust and useful measure?

OBJECTIVE: Several tools are available to health care organisations in England to measure efficiency, but these are widely reported to be unpopular and unusable. Moreover, they do not have a sound conceptual basis. This paper describes the development and evaluation of a user-friendly tool that organisations can use to measure their efficiency, based on the technique of data envelopment analysis (DEA), which has a firm basis in economic theory. METHODS: Routine data from 57 providers and 14 purchasing organisations in one region of the English National Health Service (NHS) for 1994-1996 were used to create information on efficiency based on DEA. This was presented to them using guides that explained the information and how it was to be used. They were surveyed to elicit their views on current measures of efficiency and on the potential use of the DEA-based information. RESULTS: The DEA measure demonstrated considerable scope for improvements in health service efficiency. There was a very small improvement over time with larger changes in some hospitals than others. Overall, 80% of those surveyed gave high scores for the potential usefulness of the DEA-based measures compared with 9-45% for existing methods. The quality of presentation of the information was also consistently high. CONCLUSIONS: There is dissatisfaction with efficiency information currently available to the NHS. DEA produces potentially useful information, which is easy to use and can be easily explained to and understood by potential users. The next step would be the implementation, on a developmental basis, of a routine DEA-based information system.

Data Interpretation, Statistical↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Use and abuse of the medical loss ratio to measure health plan performance.

This paper examines the use and abuse of the medical loss ratio in the contemporary health care system and health policy debate. It begins with a survey of the ways in which the medical loss ratio has been interpreted to be something it is not, such as a measure of quality or efficiency. It then analyzes key organizational features of the emerging health care system that complicate measures of financial performance, including integration between payers and providers, diversification of payers across multiple products and distribution channels, and geographic expansion across metropolitan and state lines. These issues are illustrated using medical loss ratios from a range of nonprofit and for-profit health plans. The paper then sketches a strategy for improving the public's understanding of health plan performance as an alternative to continued reliance on the flawed medical loss ratio. This strategy incorporates data on structure and process, service quality, and financial performance.

Accounting↗
PubMed2000

How can you protect yourself from employee dishonesty?

BACKGROUND: Forty percent of dental offices have been or will be embezzled by an employee. OVERVIEW: As employers, dentists need to prescreen applicants diligently, as well as take strong, proactive roles in the monitoring of all business aspects of their practices. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: To make their offices embezzlement-proof, dentists need to take responsibility for both implementing and monitoring strict accounting and banking procedures.

Financial Audit↗
PubMed1990

Use of the inventory turnover measurement.

Without visiting a company or investigating how it conducts its business and what efforts it uses to control its inventories, we have a technique to measure its effectiveness. This technique involves calculating the inventory turnover ratio (turns) and comparing it to turns achieved by similar companies. Once we have determined that there are apparent opportunities for inventory reduction, the next step is to analyze what can be done to effect that reduction. But that's the topic of another lesson.

Accounting↗