Addressing blood and body fluid spills: conserving time and resources during surface disinfecting

As new issues and areas of concern arise in the health care industry, such as the potential transmission of HIV and HBV, adaptive measures will continue to be developed to assist health care professionals in their mission to provide expert medical care for patients and safe environments in which to practice. Health care institutions must commit to exploration of the advances in infection control that employ improved measures to manage the cleaning and disinfecting of spill incidents involving blood and/or body fluids and the disinfecting of contaminated surfaces. Together, product manufacturers and health care workers will discover new ways to save time, money, and resources. The goal for health care administrators should be to focus on products that stress simplicity, efficiency, cost containment, and, most important, the safety of staff and patients.     

Free-standing surgery centers; the wave of the future

To summarize, it should be realized that acceptance of surgicenters has happened. Surgery centers expect heightened awareness of their services as patients, in conjunction with their own physicians, make decisions based on cost, service, and convenience of the care provided. As copayments and deductibles increase, consumers have become better educated, taking a more active role in selecting their health care providers. This activity has given rise to joint ventures between physicians and hospitals offering new ambulatory care packages previously based in hospitals alone. The net effect will divide the health care industry into two markets, one that will manage high-intensity surgical procedures and one that will promote outpatient surgical procedures.     

Respiratory care

In summary, the field of respiratory care has witnessed a continuum of accelerating change in its first half century of existence as a health care profession. These changes were effected by internal change agents as well as external forces in the health care arena. Based upon a health care system undergoing a near cataclysmic pace of change in a time of multifocal and critical inspection, it is anticipated that the field will undergo an even more dramatic change in its scope and direction in the next 50 years. With the guidance and assistance of administrators, medical staff, and partner departments, the respiratory care department should continue to function as an integral part of the hospital organization.     

Recruiting and retaining staff in the twenty-first century

There is a shortage of health care professionals across the country, as well as a shortage of registered nurses that is compromising patient care. This shortage will reach crisis proportions in the twenty-first century. Hospitals will have to upgrade their recruitment efforts and retain the employees that they have.     

Health care's future? Look to the past

Although health care is changing, and probably always will be subject to change, there are certain basic themes present at the founding of the U.S. health care system that remain important today. Although these themes could be seen as working against each other, proper attention to both might lead to a "marriage" that could optimize the system and provide, if not a solution, at least a workable system for health care.     

A case history: forging a "reusable" alliance

This article presents the focus of partnerships in the future of health care providers. It discusses the necessity for partnerships as well as the mutual benefits that must be a vital part of the relationship. The article also shows specific information about and outlines the value of a specific partnership between the Medical Center of Central Georgia and Medline Industries. The future of health care delivery and reform will depend on different types of partnerships and that all the providers of services and products, as well as health care delivery, must be willing to aggressively align with partners.     

Just-in-time and stockless programs for hospitals: fad or trend?

The JIT and stockless approach to provider-supplier relationships has proven to be a win-win proposition for the partners that have implemented it in many manufacturing industries and health care organizations as well. This strategy will fundamentally impact the entire cost structure within the hospital supply distribution chain. rewards have proven attainable and more comprehensive than had been hoped in the health care applications. The sweeping changes the health care industry experienced during the 1980s are leading creative materiel managers to seize the initiative to improve the current operating costs of their hospitals. They do not want to be left behind "holding the inventory."     

Getting to go in managed care

The challenge for leadership and the required changes are great. Our personal limitations include a limited view of the world and the threat of an overwhelming risk if one gets too far out on the limb. "Getting to go" will open up new and strange territories that will provide opportunity and failure for leaders. Capable leaders will pursue the opportunity. Threatened leaders will resist the change. For those leaders who feel that the managed care existing today provides the most cost-effective, quality outcome for the individual, his or her sponsor in the community, they will go no further. Unfortunately for many of us, managed care means a third party trying to micromanage patients (deductions, authorizations, and so on), employers (claims, incentives, and so forth), and providers (approvals, forums, payment, tricks, and the like). Providers need to go ahead and master efficient care. We owe that to the community and the third party nightmare of administrative overkill must be laid to rest. For those healthcare leaders who believe that managed care as a system focused on improving the health status of our communities is superior to our existing system, their individual goals and leadership focus must be changed accordingly. We cannot sit by idly and wait for the system to change us. Instead our obligation is to lead our organizations toward a new era in health care.     

Agency in Health Care: Lessons for Economists from Sociologists

A bstract . What economists can learn from sociologists with regard to the economic theory of agency in health care is considered. Whilst the concept of agency has become widely accepted in health economics , its application to the doctor-patient relationship remains somewhat limited. Research is needed on the nature of the patient's and doctor's utility functions before an efficient outcome in health care can be achieved. Economists have much to learn from sociologists concerning the nature of patient's and doctor's utility functions. Only when economists take account of this literature will moves towards an efficient outcome in health care be achieved.     

The hospital-supplier partnership: take care of the relationship first, and individual rewards will follow

Partnerships and consolidation will continue to occur with increasing frequency within the supplier and health care provider communities as the health care industry strives to lower costs without diminishing quality and service. This article examines what constitutes the ideal hospital-supplier relationship. It asks the question: What does each partner need to do to make the relationship work effectively? It outlines the keys to a win-win proposition and ways to prevent the relationship from breaking down.     

Efficient approach to health care industry material resource management: an empirical research

The feasibility of JIT implementation in the health care industry was examined through in-depth case studies and survey research. Specifically, this research examined two different groups in the health care industry: health care institutions that have introduced JIT philosophy into their operations and those that have not. Based on this classification, the research reveals the different impacts that the introduction of JIT philosophy has had on the health care industry's inventory management, service quality, and competitiveness. According to the research result, the introduction of the JIT philosophy in the health care industry's material management system improved that system and reduced implementation problems even though the differences between the JH and the NJH were not high. However, this research found that great potentials exist for the successful implementation of JIT philosophy for material management even though most of the JIT in the health care industry is still in its early stages. Moreover, with the maturing of the stockless material management system, differences between the JH and the NJH groups will be even more significant.     

The new role of material managers in hospital strategic planning

The future direction and challenges of hospital strategic planning require the knowledge and skills of material managers. The approach taken in participating in hospital planning efforts is not as important as the level of involvement. Understanding the strategic planning process at the hospital and knowing what information is critical to that process will improve the ability of the material manager to become an active participant and a valuable contributor to the strategic planning process. Cost management will continue to be the overriding concern of the health care industry in the 1990s. Hospitals will reorganize to control cost and improve productivity, while striving to maintain the quality of care. Material managers must align their departments with hospital strategic goals and assert their new roles in achieving those goals.     

Occupational health: offering a spectrum of services

Hospitals must continue to explore ways in which to meet the needs of the employer market. As health care costs (workers' compensation and otherwise) account for a larger portion of a company's total expense dollars, the employer will continue to have a greater voice in how those dollars are expended. Hospitals and occupational health programs that recognize this fact will not only survive, they will prosper.     

The Demand for Health Care Services in Rural Tanzania

This paper examines the pattern of health care demand in rural Tanzania. We distinguish between hospital and clinic‐based care, in both the public and private sector using a two‐level nested multinomial logit model. Own price elasticities of demand for all health care options are high, although less so for public clinics and dispensaries than other choices. However, there is a high degree of substitution between public and private care. Consequently, price increases or user fees will result in small percentage of people opting for self‐treatment. Another important contribution of this paper is that the quality of medical care has large effects on health demand. This applies to the quality and availability of doctors/nurses, drugs and the clinic environment.     

Total quality management and statistical quality control: practical applications to waste stream management

TQM offers a completely new approach to problem solving in health care. The approach requires dedication and persistence in monitoring, understanding, and changing systems at a level that has never been reached before in the United States' health care system. Materiel management, purchasing, nursing, housekeeping, and administration now have the necessary tools to centrally study the medical waste stream flow at their facilities. The intent of this article is to display how TQM techniques can be applied to minimize a hospital's medical waste stream. The approach of studying medical waste as a defect generated during the process of delivering high-quality care enables a hospital to pinpoint causes of these defects, modify the parent system of the defect, and lessen the generation of medical waste defects. Successful implementation of these techniques as a continuous process will enable hospitals to be leaders in the preservation of their host communities' environments.     

Bracing for survival

As health care continues to move toward smaller, more consolidated support services, materiel managers will face constricted promotion and employment opportunities. Flexibility and a willingness to embrace change as the occasion for personal and professional advancement will be two hallmarks of success. This article focuses on outsourcing and integrated delivery networks by discussing the challenges and opportunities they present.     

THE AGEING POPULATION: CRUNCH TIME FOR GOVERNMENT REFORMS

Current discussions about reforms to health and long‐term care miss the most important trends that should be influencing debate. With an ageing population that includes a higher proportion of people with manageable illnesses, health and care costs will rise. Reforms must ensure that existing government spending is used more efficiently and that it harnesses – rather than works against – private financing.     

Health care reform and the hospital supply chain

With health care reform, hospitals will be differentiated in the marketplace by how well they manage the costs of services. Because products will be market priced, hospital materiel managers will have to minimize all other related acquisition costs. The key opportunities will be in changing processes to eliminate non-value added administrative, supply chain, and process activities and their attendant costs.     

Survival strategies in the era of managed care

The era of managed care has forced an unprecedented restructuring of the health care environment. As hospitals downsize in response, materiel managers should consider adopting strategies that may help ensure their survival, including innovative approaches to supply management and the development of individual responses that will best position them to succeed in this new reality.