Deck 9: Productivity and Performance Management

Question 1

Measurement of productivity in hospitals is not as common as in other industries.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Physicians and researchers agree that measurement problems exist with regard to healthcare outputs.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Activity indicators accurately capture all inputs to a production function.

Answer 3

False
Activity indicators merely describe the volume of work, but do not accurately capture all inputs.

Question 4

Capital has little impact in a production function.

Question 5

Hospitals do not need to seek consistency in output measurement, since all outputs are similar.

Question 6

Trial and error is a common approach in developing labor schedules, but rarely does it produce efficient or optimal labor costs.

Question 7

Common issues in productivity measurement for hospitals include:

A) Ample availability of data for measurement
B) Quality of data
C) Simplicity of defining outputs
D) Steady rates of demand

Question 8

Common productivity metrics in hospitals include:

A) Hospital man-hours per discharge
B) Department man-hours per supply used
C) Severity of illness per labor hour
D) Wage rate per bed

Question 9

Productivity can improve in which of the following ways?

A) Output expands with an increase in inputs
B) Inputs are reduced with a decrease in outputs
C) Output increases with a decrease in inputs
D) New technology increases the labor hours per output

Question 10

Measurement systems in productivity management must be:

A) Consistent, recordable, manageable, qualitative, and inexpensive
B) Flexible, manageable, safe, qualitative, and comparable
C) Trended, inexpensive, automated, documentable, and comprehensive
D) Consistent, reliable, measurable, quantitative, and comprehensive.

Question 11

Typical tracking mechanisms include which of the following?

A) Stopwatches and clipboards
B) Video surveillance
C) Bar codes
D) Computer MAC addresses

Question 12

Productive hours exclude which of the following?

A) Regular paid hours
B) Sick time
C) Overtime
D) Contract labor

Question 13

Performance metrics should focus on:

A) Financial results
B) Patient characteristics
C) Regulatory impacts
D) All areas of the business

Question 14

Describe the three major variables of productivity.

Question 15

Define the term "full-time equivalent (FTE) employee" and give an example.

Question 16

Differentiate between productive and non-productive labor hours and give an example of each.

Question 17

Describe two situations where hospital staffing may not be able to flex with demand.