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Alven Weil
Premier Inc.
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Haywood Regional Medical Center generates more than $3.6 million in savings in six months with Premier healthcare alliance labor management solution
Premier’s LaborConnect™ integrates productivity and benchmarking, comparative data analysis and on-site consulting to better manage labor costs, improve quality at small, rural hospital
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (January 7, 2010) – Haywood Regional Medical Center, a rural facility, licensed for 189-beds in Clyde, N.C., achieved savings of $3.62 million in labor costs in six months with the Premier healthcare alliance through the use of LaborConnect™, Premier's labor management solution.
"The key to our success was the engagement of leadership and department heads from day one to customize a unique program based on our needs," said Mike Poore, who recently became CEO at MedWest Health System, an affiliation of Haywood Regional; Harris Regional Hospital of Sylva, N.C.; and Swain County Hospital of Bryson City, N.C. "This helped build trust in our processes that had been lacking because of their recent experiences. The partnership that resulted gave us the structure, accountability and confidence to implement a successful labor expense reduction program."
As a part of LaborConnect, Haywood Regional utilizes OperationsAdvisor® (OA), Premier's Web-based labor management solution that integrates productivity and benchmarking with comparative data analysis; and a Performance Partner, who works with leadership and managers on-site to improve operational performance and productivity.
Strong support from leadership led Haywood Regional to reduce its FTEs by 85 in part through volume-based flex staffing. In addition, the Performance Partner significantly aided in the return on investment of 74 to 1.
"We are very pleased with the Premier Performance Partner's work in helping us establish a comprehensive labor management program from scratch," said Poore.
The Performance Partner worked with managers to build the labor management program from the ground up and introduced them to concepts such as flexing staffing to volumes and other management techniques.
According to Premier Senior Vice President of Healthcare Informatics Keith J. Figlioli, "Hospitals today are facing significant challenges to operate profitably and efficiently, particularly around labor management, their single largest expense. The ability to integrate product and service offerings is key to addressing these pressing labor challenges and to driving significant savings."
With more than 500 subscribing facilities, OA is the only labor management solution that fully integrates a productivity measurement system with quarterly and annual benchmarking, along with comparative data analysis. OA offers a unique combination of productivity monitoring, assessment and comparative data so that hospitals can confidently compare operational performance, identify attainable performance improvement opportunities and achieve a rapid return on investment.
About Haywood Regional Medical Center
Full-service, not-for-profit Haywood Regional Medical Center is the only
hospital in Haywood County, N.C., and serves Maggie Valley, Waynesville, Canton
and Clyde. The hospital's services include acute and emergency care, hospice and
palliative care, home care, diabetes education, rehabilitation, women's care,
laboratory and a 16-bed Behavioral Health Unit. It is accredited by The Joint
Commission. Its health and fitness center offers recreational amenities and
serves rehabilitating patients. Haywood Regional recently became
a part of MedWest Health System. MedWest, an affiliation of Haywood Regional,
Harris Regional and Swain County hospitals, entered into a management services
agreement with Carolinas HealthCare System of Charlotte, N.C.,
on January 1, 2010.
About the Premier healthcare alliance, Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient
Premier is a performance improvement alliance of more than 2,400 U.S. hospitals
and nearly 70,000 other healthcare sites working together to achieve high quality,
cost-effective care. Owned by not-for-profit hospitals, Premier maintains
the nation's most comprehensive repository of clinical, financial and outcomes
information and operates a leading healthcare purchasing network. A world leader
in helping deliver measurable improvements in care, Premier works with the
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the United Kingdom's National
Health Service North West to improve hospital performance. Headquartered in
Charlotte, N.C., Premier also has offices in San Diego, Philadelphia and
Washington.
http://www.premierinc.com