PSQH Archives

How to Effectively Choose and Assign Clinical Staff

by Barry P Chaiken, MD | Nov 1, 2014 | Archives

On average, hospitals devote close to 60% of their budgets to labor costs with the large majority of those costs associated with nurse staffing. Until robots replace humans in the delivery of patient care, selection of the proper skill mix and number of professionals...

A Symphony of Evidence-based Staffing

by Barry P Chaiken, MD | Sep 20, 2014 | Archives

For more than 100 years, the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) entertained audiences in Symphony Hall, one of the finest musical halls in the world. As information technology advanced, the BSO deployed numerous systems to manage ticketing, payroll, and personnel...

Railroads, Weed and EMRs

by Barry P Chaiken, MD | Jul 20, 2014 | Healthcare IT

As independent companies built railroad lines in the 19th century, each company chose a different gauge—the distance between the inner rails—for their track. As the railway industry first grew out of the need to transport mined materials, most early railroad companies...

Bacchus and Healthcare

by Barry P Chaiken, MD | Jun 7, 2014 | Analytics

Showing great wisdom, our mothers cautioned us to never judge a book by its cover. Yet, when we purchase wine, we often look for the fancy label design, interesting back label story, or colorful capsule covering the cork. That said, most wine drinkers use price as the...

WhatsApp Lessons to Engage Patients

by Barry P Chaiken, MD | Mar 7, 2014 | Archives

Information technology has achieved some amazing changes in consumer behavior. Over the last 20 years, companies have decreased their costs simply by transferring the work previously done by employees to consumers. For example, think about the last time you took an...