Unfortunately, the resources that can be used to improve patients’ physical or mental condition are not always used in the most effective manner, and this is why there is a lot of things to be improved. Speaking about the most outstanding examples of wasted resources or wasted efforts in healthcare, it is extremely important to pay close attention to the analysis of patient data that helps healthcare specialists to identify potential problems and diseases and test their hypotheses.
Nowadays, there are healthcare facilities where specialists do not have access to modern systems of data analysis. In fact, when healthcare specialists are supposed to analyze a great amount of patient data on their own, it significantly decreases the productivity of their work as they have to spend more time searching the necessary data.
The extra time that specialists in some healthcare institutions have to spend in order to systematize the patient data can be called one of the most important examples of wasted efforts in healthcare. Also, due to problems that occur when healthcare specialists define a patient’s diagnosis, it often happens that a lot of unnecessary tests are conducted (Levick, D., Stern, Meyerhoefer, Levick, A., & Pucklavage, 2013). For instance, the lack of an effective data processing system in a healthcare facility can cause numerous cases of repetitive or unnecessary testing.
In the end, the topic is extremely important when it comes to the work of healthcare specialists in the United States. If specialists are assigned tasks that are extremely difficult for them and they are not supported by more experienced co-workers or managers, it can cause waste related to human potential. The lack of assistance and ineffective training often become the reason for the increased level of occupational burnout.
References
Levick, D. L., Stern, G., Meyerhoefer, C. D., Levick, A., & Pucklavage, D. (2013). Reducing unnecessary testing in a CPOE system through implementation of a targeted CDS intervention. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 13(1), 43.