The engagement and motivation of public healthcare workers can reduce hospital costs and improve outcomes for patients and communities, according to a new multi-agency study.
Releasing the Happier workers Healthier patients report, the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority (VMIA) said it partnered with the Victorian Public Sector Commission (VPSC), Safer Care Victoria and The University of Melbourne to produce the study.
VMIA said the study used six years of data from over 80 public healthcare institutions in Victoria covering employee engagement, hospital-acquired complications and insurance claims.
“The research showed a correlation between staff satisfaction and lower hospital-acquired complications,” VMIA said.
“This relationship flowed through to insurance indicators, where lower levels of hospital-acquired complications were linked to faster reporting, as well as fewer reported claims and incidents for some health services,” it said.
“The study found that a one per cent increase in employee engagement leads to a three per cent reduction in hospital-acquired complications.
“With the average cost of a hospital-acquired complication approximately $40,000, this has significant implications for public hospital cost frameworks.”
VMIA said the two questions in the VPSC’s People Matter survey used by the study to measure engagement – ‘I feel strong personal attachment for my organisation’ and ‘My organisation motivated me to help achieve its objectives’ – had the strongest relationship with hospital-acquired complications and insurance outcomes.
It said these significant findings demonstrated the importance and positive impact of culture on better patient outcomes, lower claim costs, less reporting days and fewer reported claims and incidents.
The 40-page report can be accessed at this PS News link.
