For more than 25 years, the Consulting Practice at Kirby Bates Associates has helped patient care executives improve the operations and financial performance of their departments, enhance the credibility and effectiveness of leadership teams and strengthen nursing operations and patient care.
One of our most frequently requested services is the evaluation of nursing productivity and the development of programs and systems to help maximize the return on the nursing investment.
Nursing salary costs typically represent the single largest component of a hospital budget. When those costs are out of control, the impact on a hospital’s bottom line can be significant.
Many hospitals have difficulty controlling nursing salary costs because so many variables are involved, including changes in length-of-stay and patient acuity, variability in patient volume, staff competency and skill mix, salary rates, staff turnover, overtime, and technology, to name a few. Minor changes in any of these variables can have a major impact on the nursing budget simply due to its size. KBA has proven methods for helping hospitals optimize the return on their nursing investment.
Step One – Evaluate:
The first step is to determine the extent to which multiple variables are negatively impacting nursing costs. The problem cannot be solved until it is clearly understood. National benchmarks are used to help quantify the problems and the opportunities.
Step Two – Educate:
The second step is to educate those managers closest to the delivery of patient care. They need to know how to develop, implement, and monitor a budget that is consistent with national standards and responsive to changes in both patient acuity and patient volume. It is critical for front-line nursing managers to understand and be involved in the nursing budget process because they know best what patients need and what nurses do. They also have the most control over day-to-day staffing decisions and spending.
Step Three – Provide Tools:
For frontline nursing managers to be successful they need simple to use tools for generating budgets, developing evidence-based staffing guidelines and schedules, and maintaining position control. They also need simple, timely, and meaningful tools for on-going budget monitoring. KBA provides these tools, along with other strategies to address workload variability and maintain the quality of patient care. The result is an optimized return on the nursing investment.
Kirby Bates Associates consulting is outcome-oriented and is structured to achieve results during the course of the consulting process. Kirby Bates Associates consultants work closely with every client to ensure a maximum return on investment and tangible results based on organizational needs.
