Evaluating the Association Between Hospital Labor Costs and the Quality of Care
Date
2023-04
Authors
Beauvais, B. Kruse
Ramamonjiarivelo, Zo
Sen, Keya
Pradhan, Rohit
Fulton, Larry
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
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Abstract
Throughout the history of healthcare delivery, patient care has been a personal issue. The competent healing touch of a caregiver is a critical component to the care patients receive. Thus, the more skilled the provider is, the higher the likelihood outcomes will be delivered in a safe and effective manner. However, it is costly to attract and retain high quality clinical staff leading many hospital leaders to continually adjust the staffing mix to minimize labor costs while also ensuring the quality of care is optimized. Unfortunately, in recent years, hospitals in the United States have faced immense financial pressures that are threatening their economic sustainability and patients’ access to care in the future. Through the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the cost of delivering healthcare has continued to escalate, all while the demand for patient care has exceeded many hospitals’ capacity. Most troubling is the impact that the pandemic has had on the healthcare workforce. Over the past two years, many healthcare workers have reached a point of exhaustion and burnout resulting in many leaving the industry. Others have lost their positions due to refusal to accept vaccination requirements. And some, unfortunately, have fallen victim to the disease. This has resulted in a depleted local market workforce and, in turn, has left many hospitals struggling to fill vacancies at ever increasing cost – all while under immense pressure to deliver quality patient care. What remains uncertain is whether the increase in labor costs have been matched with a commensurate rise in the quality of care or if quality has deteriorated as the labor force mix has changed to include more contract and temporary staff. Thus, in the enclosed study, we seek to determine what association, if any, there is between hospitals’ cost of labor and the quality of care delivered.
Description
Keywords
labor costs, hospitals, healthcare
Citation
Beauvais, B. K., Ramamonjiarivelo, Z., Sen, K., Pradhan, R., & Fulton, L. (2023). Evaluating the association between hospital labor costs and the quality of care. Poster presented at the Health Scholar Showcase, Translational Health Research Center, San Marcos, Texas.