Optimal Utilization Management of Scarce Resources, Research Paper Example

I have observed that many healthcare organizations are attempting to implement business techniques into their daily operations in order to ensure that resources are adequately distributed despite their availability. One way that hospitals are doing this is by altering the HR departments by including HR staff members as strategic partners (Fulmer et al., 2006). While we typically associate HR representatives with responsibilities that include hiring and payroll, their role as strategic partners extends to the organization of the healthcare setting in manners that will help maximize available resources.

While management and supervision of the healthcare staff, especially nurses, would typically come from a senior member of the medical staff, the HR department will replace some of these management roles. They will become responsible for developing plans of action and training the employees to work strategically. The only aspect they will not be involved in are those that involve experience and knowledge in the medical field. The goal of this strategy is to ensure that the healthcare staff is more organized and therefore more able to address more patients in a shorter amount of time. Efficiency is key in ensuring the use of resources and this method will allow a smaller staff to do a good job.

There are many important issues that HR professionals would need to address in the healthcare setting. It would be useful for them to determine whether it is really necessary and effective for nurses to work overtime when the healthcare organization is short-staffed. They will be able to objectively measure if this is the case, and suggest changes and alternate options if it is not. This will allow the healthcare organization to reorganize itself in a manner that is maximally useful to its patients.

References

Holton EF, Trott JW. (1996). Trends Toward a Closer Integration of Vocational Education and Human Resources Development.Journal of Vocational and Technical Education, 12(2):7.

Fulmer R, Genson S. (2006). HR’s Strategic Partnership with Line Management. Graziado Business Review. Retrieved from http://gbr.pepperdine.edu/2010/08/hrs-strategic-partnership-with-line-management/