Efficiency Improvement in a Nursing Department

In The Netherlands, pressure to improve efficiency in health care has increased year by year. Historically, hospitals and other care providers could easily compensate for financial losses simply by requesting more money from the government and insurance companies. However, these parties are no longer as generous as they used to be. Additional costs of health care are directly paid via taxes and insurance premiums, so the citizens directly experience the burden. Furthermore, as many other countries in the Western world, the Dutch population is ageing! They require more and longer care. New medical treatments have become available for more diseases, and new equipment and medicines have been developed, leading to ever increasing costs. These, and related developments, have forced health care professionals, administrators, and government officials to think differently, to change drastically, and to adopt proven business practices from industrial and service organizations.

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