Healthcare Finance
Efficiency and Effectiveness: Three Perspectives
Define and describe efficiency and effectiveness. What are the differences between efficiency and effectiveness? How can a healthcare organization use this information?
Efficiency refers to the accomplishment of a task or a set of tasks in the most economical fashion, both in terms of time spent and resources utilized. By contrast, effectiveness refers to the ambition of achieving the best possible results from completion of a task or a set of tasks. What they have in common is that they are both critical dimensions of the provision of healthcare. However, there may be some imbalance in how they are applied.
This is shown in an article by Treven (2012) which indicates that some healthcare practitioners view effectiveness and efficiency as being at odds with one another. According to Treven, "the author of a recent NY Times opinion article, Gilbert Welch, argues that we are not putting enough effort into challenging standard practices in medicine, but instead focus too much on accommodating and streamlining those practices already established, and on coming up with ever new diagnostic and screening tools, treatments and procedures to spend health care money on." (Treven, p. 1)
The focus on streamlining seems to be based on economic imperatives. In other words, many hospitals and healthcare facilities are more concerned with moving patients through their system and toward discharge than they are with achieving the best possible healthcare results. The consequence of this is that too many patients are receiving limited attention and inadequate treatment, especially with the pressure often placed by insurance companies to limit hospital stays and
Hospitals need to focus on effectiveness of care. The result will be fewer return patients and, consequently, a more efficient operation. Simultaneously, strategies for improving efficiency should be patient-centered.
Works Cited:
Treven, M. (2012). Efficiency vs. Effectiveness in Healthcare. MedCrunch.
Student 2
Define and describe efficiency and effectiveness. What are the differences between efficiency and effectiveness? How can a healthcare organization use this information?
Efficiency and effectiveness are two distinct priorities in any organizational setting. But in the best organizations, these qualities will work together to provide desirable outcomes. This is especially true in field of healthcare. Here, efficiency is the pace and expedience with which procedures and treatment strategies are carried out. This will typically have direct financial implications for a healthcare organization.
Effectiveness in a healthcare setting refers to the quality of treatment and the outcomes that result from this treatment. A positive way for healthcare organizations to use this information would be to design strategies of patient treatment that incorporate both. The article by Cipriano (2011) asserts that we needn't choose between efficiency and effectiveness. To the contrary, our healthcare system will only improve if we find meaningful ways of achieving both. According to Cipriano, this requires us to focus on healthcare outcomes rather than strictly on processes and procedures. The study by Cipriano aruges that "healthcare transformation must focus on changes in health outcomes rather than simply process reformation. A focus on outcomes requires a comprehensive outlook that considers the impact of multiple, inter-related processes within the care delivery methodology." (p. 3)
Outcome…
