Facilities management can often seem like a role that goes unnoticed. On the one hand, you are responsible for some of the most important aspects of healthcare, such as patient safety, customer satisfaction, a well-maintained physical environment, and the provision of the resources your hospital staff needs for successful outcomes. Yet, behind the scenes, you are constantly under pressure to control costs, find new efficiencies and do more with less—all without jeopardizing the effective operation of your facility.
Regardless of the size or location of your organization, you typically deal with 3 major buckets for your operational costs:
Let’s take a look at each one:
Salaries
Labor costs for your full-time employees are a constant issue for any facilities manager. According to national figures, medical facilities, including acute care, critical access, medical centers and rehabilitation centers, employ an average of 31 full-time employees.
Nonclinical Service Contracts
Those tasks not handled in-house need to be contracted out, and nationally that cost adds up to a significant number. In fact, the 5,600+ hospitals throughout the United States spend more than $200 billion in purchased services each year.
Supplies:
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The unkindest cut
Traditionally, of the core costs listed above, what you spend on contracted services and supplies are fixed costs. That leaves labor as the only category conceivably in your control when looking for immediate savings.
“Efficiencies”, can sometimes mean you are forced to do more with less, which can result in staff reductions. Unfortunately, that is a one-time fix and often leads to further problems down the road, since fewer team members are now available for the same amount of work. Staffing shortfalls may also call for higher outsourcing costs, which eats away at the savings you hoped to achieve
Why not make the most of your in-house resources instead?
Often, when you look at a problem from a different perspective, it becomes an opportunity. So consider viewing your in-house resources not as a liability on a cost spreadsheet, but as an asset that can help leverage your facility’s efficiencies. When you have the necessary data on your facility’s service trends, needs and staff expertise, you can begin to multiply your in-house capabilities.
Medxcel Facilities Management calls this “InSourcing.” It’s a balanced approach that finds the optimal level for your facility’s size, budget and full-time employees. Instead of just relying on the standard industry benchmarks to guide your cost decisions, you can now customize your goals to get where you need to be.
Medxcel Facilities Management uses its data analytics to discern what will work best for your facility. Then we can provide everything you need to train or reinvent your in-house team and build processes and capabilities designed to deliver maximum return.
The alternative to costly service contracts
Earlier, we referred to contracted services as a fixed-cost. But with an InSourcing model in place, you can redirect some of your internal resources—or recruit new ones—and put your facility on a path toward more self-sufficiency and away from costly, extended contracts.
With Medxcel Facilities Management, you get the expertise, rich data capabilities and buying power of a vendor-neutral partner who has experience helping leading hospital facility operations across the country, as well as a growing number of off-site medical office buildings, clinics and ambulatory surgery centers.
Medxcel Facilities Management was created by healthcare to serve healthcare. We provide a vast array of services including facilities management, emergency management, safety, environment of care, project management and construction. And we have the tools, processes, support resources, data analytics, and insourcing strategies that will help you maintain your assets in a safe, compliant manner that leads to better patient care.