A study by National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) suggests that by the middle of the century, healthcare will consume a whopping 33% of the total national income. This amount will gobble up entire state/local budgets as well as the federal budget. Unlike other developing countries, the US government exercises minimal restraint on healthcare spending. Also, the government is focusing its attention on covering more and more people rather than just the needy like in other countries. With the population of the aged rising rapidly, the healthcare costs of the state are bound to rise upwards.

In the direction of reducing healthcare costs, hospitals are now being pushed by the state to reduce their costs.

Here we present 5 proven techniques by which your hospital/clinic can reduce its operating costs without cutting corners:

1.Cost tracking: Making use of an integrated electronic approach by which all multiple accounts databases can be combined into a single database, making use of data warehousing techniques and retrieval via internet.

2.Inter-departmental co-ordination: Increased co-ordination between departments helps in getting cost saving measures sink into the entire hospital structure more easily.

3.Corporate style benchmarking: Hospitals are now starting to fix corporate styled goals and adopting industry best practices. A professional approach would definitely go a long way in effecting cost cutting measures envisaged.

4.Clinical pathway mapping: Bringing together a team of physicians whose primary aim is to identify patient group requirements and map the means by which the needs can be met frugally and efficiently.

Expected savings: 35 percent

5.Hiring case managers: Case managers look after the transition procedures of a patient when shifted from one department to the other. They are usually members of the nursing staff.