A Productivity Practicum: An interactive course of study that empowers hospital managers to take control of their departments’ Labor Productivity and talk like and with their Chief Financial Officer

A “practicum” is a course of study that involves the practical application of previously studied theory. Hospital department managers rise to their level of responsibility by demonstrating clinical excellence, interpersonal and leadership skills, and attention to detail. Yet they are often frustrated by their inability to fully grasp the fundamentals of labor productivity management. For over twenty years, Keith Gott has worked with hospital managers to demystify healthcare labor productivity concepts, analyze their departmental staffing requirements, develop action plans for necessary change and utilize tools for documenting progress. This workbook is a distillation of the terms, concepts and exercises employed by Mr. Gott in his classes and seminars. This book is meant to be a WORK-book! Each chapter is followed by a review of key topics. Key chapters have exercises applying concepts both newly and previously reviewed. Solutions – not just the answers – to the exercises are provided. Readers are encouraged to highlight, annotate and write their answers herein. Chapters include: Environment Productivity Terms and Concepts Calculating Productivity Position Control versus Productivity Benchmarking – Where do I Stand? What’s in Your Toolbox? Managing Productivity As the book’s sub-title reads, the goal of this workbook is to give hospital managers improved familiarity and comfort with labor productivity management concepts, empower them to drive their departments’ productivity (not just simply reflect shifting volume demands) and enable them to “talk like and with their Chief Financial Officer.” Purchasers of the workbook also have access to online testing. These tests, taken before and after completing the workbook, enable senior managers to determine both value provided by the workbook and areas wherein their managers will require focused follow-up.