The top 3 concerns of hospital CEO’s

There are many things keeping hospital CEOs awake at night and it’s their responsibility to keep track of them all. According to the American Hospital Association Environmental Scan 2023, hospital CEOs cite these specific issues as their three primary concerns:

1. Personnel shortages
2. Financial challenges
3. Patient safety and quality

These three issues broadly cover the main concerns plaguing hospital CEOs, at systems everywhere. Interestingly enough, all three of these issues are connected, and the improvement of any of them could lead to an easing of the others. Even more interesting, is that these three issues are some of the most positively impacted by virtual nursing care delivery models.

The impact these concerns have on hospitals.

Let’s look at some statistics showing exactly how expensive it can be for a hospital experiencing any of these concerns:

–The average cost of nursing turnover is around $46,100 a nurse (NSI 2023 staffing report)

–The average cost of falls with injury is around $34,294 (johnshopkinssolutions.com)

–The average cost of a Medicare readmission is around $34,000 (Yakesheva & Hoffman, 2018)

These are just three examples of potential expenses that hospitals incur, it should be easy to see how quickly these can add up and the difference a reduction in any of them can potentially make. However, it has been observed that a successful virtual nursing implementation can impact these issues significantly. Two of the most notable positive outcomes of virtual nursing thus far are a decrease among inpatient falls with injury and a decrease in nurse turnover, which begins to address two of the hospital CEO’s concerns directly.

How does virtual nursing address these concerns?

The three areas where virtual nursing can provide the most value, also aligns directly with what hospital CEOs see as their three top concerns:

–Improving care team experience, safety and outcomes

–Improving patient experience, safety, and outcomes

–Improving care efficiency and reducing the cost of care

These three areas of impact address the three concerns of hospital CEO’s as well , and they are not the only positive benefits of a successful virtual nursing program. 

It’s worth mentioning that some of the other cost benefits of virtual nursing, such as reduction in avoidable ICU transfers and improved throughput also address hospital CEO concerns as well. Additionally, the potential of virtual nursing to assist with admission and transfer documentation, discharge documentation, medication reconciliation, and even limited assessments should not be ignored, as it can be leveraged by the direct care nurses providing the hands-on care

An improvement of any of the previously mentioned concerns could save a hospital hundreds of thousands of dollars. Note that these findings are based on existing hospital units that have implemented virtual nursing programs and data continues to evolve and validate experiences around the country.

In summary

The top three concerns of hospital CEOs are personnel shortages, financial challenges, patient safety and quality. These align quite nicely with the primary positive outcomes of a successful virtual nursing program, including a reduction in patient falls, improved nurse retention, a decreased LOS, a decrease in readmissions, and a reduction in avoidable ICU transfers. Not to mention the impact to HCAHPS and patient satisfaction attributed to faster call light response time and more consistent hourly rounding. Virtual nursing is a way to mitigate the concerns of CEOs and improve patient care and experience, while simultaneously improving the experience of the bedside nurses as well.