Always do what is right. It will gratify half of mankind and astound the other
“Doing the Right Thing” has always been important to me. I have always wanted to go to sleep each night knowing I am making things better, for patients and staff. Finding those win/win situations where improving things clinically, while also having a financial gain, is the best part of what I have done for the last couple decades. The more financial gain, the more we can provide services to people that are often marginalized in our communities.
It is counterintuitive that “Doing the Right Thing” also can yield stronger financial results. A strong and structured interdisciplinary clinical program allows for patients to get better faster, which is why we provide services to such a challenging patient population in the first place. It also helps support financial operations by supporting utilization review processes for continued stay (medical necessity) requirements. It helps control expenses by structuring the patient flow and supervision such that staffing is more focused and efficient. For example, think about a 16-bed inpatient unit and all 16 patients actively engaged in groups and activity therapies in a group room. It is much more efficient from a staffing perspective to observe those patients for safety (who are all essentially in one space), compared to all 16 of those patients being randomly scattered throughout a large unit, wandering in and out of rooms and bathrooms. You would need two staff just to safely complete the observation monitoring rounds for a disorganized unit where patients are bored. Having people be bored on an inpatient psychiatric unit can also cause havoc, as it can be related to higher rates of agitation, aggression and related rates of seclusion and restraint, and associated employee injury expenses.
It sounds basic, but if you “Do the Right Thing” in terms of documentation, providing a safe and effective environment of care, and managing seclusion/restraint rates, it helps keep hospitals out of trouble. If hospitals stay out of trouble with regulatory agencies, they can focus on enhancing operations, improving quality, and possibly expanding services. Once hospitals cut corners or don’t have appropriate processes in place, getting in trouble is just a matter of time. Then, capacity can become limited/capped, expenses can become unruly, and it’s relatively easy to cascade into action plan after action plan with multiple (state and federal) regulatory agencies.
Just think: If we are kind to our patients, provide a safe, warm and therapeutic environment, support an engaged interdisciplinary team and structure solid clinical programming, and we follow known processes for operational success, there are stronger financial results. That’s a win/win.
