5. Operational Studies

M.L. Schwartz & Associates has completed numerous operational studies related to emergency departments, operating departments (Pre-op, OR, CSS, anesthesia, Post-op), medical imaging, clinical labs, volunteer departments, etc. These studies have been both free-standing independent studies as well as those associated with the development of strategic plans and physician surveys.

The intent of these studies has always been to create the best possible patient care while respecting the financial well being of the institution. These studies review:

                   •    Manpower
                   •    Equipment
                   •    Physical location, space and configuration of the department
                   •    Process
                   •    Internal and external issues impacting the department

Manpower staffing can not be limited to benchmark analysis without considering the external factors that can impact the department such as:

                   •    The ease of recruitment
                   •    The availability of staff willing to work "departmentally required hours"
                   •    The willingness of staff to perform functions beyond those typically attributed to that individual
                   •    The processes utilized by the department
                   •    The level of automation and interaction with automated systems

M.L. Schwartz & Associates has the advantage of having worked for many of the largest hospital systems such as HCA, Tenet, CHS, CHE, and CHI, thus obtaining the staffing benchmarks of these systems. Even with this library of benchmarks, M.L. Schwartz & Associates believes that visual inspection and interviews of the staff almost always provide better results than a simple application of the benchmarks, as benchmarks fail to account for the issues faced by complex facilities serving multiple locations often from a less than desireable location.

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