Knowing what hospital management is is essential to understand the importance this work has within healthcare and how it influences patients’ perception when they need to go to a hospital.
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What is hospital management?
Hospital management is the activity responsible for everything related to the organization, planning, and administrative control of a hospital, in order to ensure proper operation, combining the provision of an adequate service to patients with compliance with financial objectives.
It is a complex task that involves very different aspects, such as managing relationships with suppliers, patient care services, medical administration, financial management, etc.
Why is hospital management important?
It is often thought that for a hospital to function properly it must have sufficient healthcare staff, and it is true that this has a great influence. However, behind all healthcare professionals there is a large administrative structure that is essential for them to be able to carry out their work. Having good professionals in administration and management roles is just as important as having them in patient care.
If hospital management is so important, it is because through it fundamental objectives are achieved, such as:
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Improving the quality of patient care.
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Increasing safety in patient care, reducing problems such as medical errors.
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Reducing costs per intervention without compromising the quality of care.
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Improving overall hospital efficiency.
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Guaranteeing the right to health.
What does a hospital manager do?
Not just anyone is qualified to efficiently manage a hospital or healthcare center. It is true that having knowledge related to the health sector is necessary, but it is also essential to have specific training in areas related to management and the administration of all types of resources (material, human, financial, etc.).
All of this means that the work of a hospital manager is extremely complex, since it addresses everything from purely healthcare issues to administrative ones, including legal matters and even public relations.
Listing all the tasks this professional assumes is extremely complicated, so we will mention some of the most important ones:
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Supervising patient care and operational protocols.
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Adopting measures that guarantee service delivery, even in emergency or crisis situations.
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Representing the hospital externally.
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Reporting on their management to authorities or competent bodies.
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Overseeing the management of human, material, and financial resources of the hospital.
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Supervising the management carried out by directors or coordinators of the different medical and administrative divisions.
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Promoting innovation and continuous improvement in the hospital.
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Responding to all kinds of problematic situations that may affect the hospital’s operation.
10 tips for efficient hospital management
Know your patients’ profile
Thanks to big data and business intelligence, it is now much easier to process large-scale data, which makes it possible to anticipate future scenarios and adopt measures so that the hospital is prepared for possible epidemics.
Quality reception and care
The patient’s first contact with a hospital is of vital importance to their experience. If the care is poor, the impression they take away will be negative. Therefore, it is best to implement clear and simple welcome processes, offering humane and efficient treatment.
Continuous improvement
You should not settle for providing good service at all levels. A hospital manager knows there is always room for improvement in every area. To achieve this, they analyze the situation and set new objectives and ways to reach them. For example, improving care by implementing healthcare software.
Structured workflow
The work of healthcare professionals is much more efficient when it is well organized, because they know at every moment what they have to do. It is the manager’s responsibility to ensure that this structure is being implemented correctly.
Training
Valuing the hospital’s human capital is key to making employees feel more satisfied and to ensuring they provide higher-quality service. That is why ongoing education and training are a real necessity.
Strategic planning
A hospital is managed like a company, and as such, it must define its mission, vision, and values, establishing a strategy that helps turn them into reality. This makes it easier to achieve large-scale objectives.
Information exchange process
Communication is essential for patient care to be efficient and of higher quality. Precisely for this reason, it is necessary to strengthen the exchange of information and communication between the different hospital departments.
Strengthening relationships with suppliers
This is also closely related to improving communication. The better the relationship with suppliers, the stronger the supply network of technology, medications, and materials will become.
Efficient financial management
Whether a hospital is public or private, financial management plays a very important role in hospital administration. Strict control of expenses is required, while also ensuring that this does not negatively affect patients.
Focus on performance indicators
Monitoring and analyzing results at all levels is an essential part of hospital management, because only in this way can inefficiencies be detected, as well as practices that have proven to deliver good results, and make decisions accordingly.
Surely now you have a clearer idea of what hospital management is and why it is so important. If you need help in this area, you can get in touch with us. Our team has extensive experience in providing technological solutions for specialized infrastructures, such as hospitals.
