Tip of the week: Reduce the number of medical staff meetings to save money

Although it is important for the medical staff to meet regularly, streamlining your process can save your hospital big money. By simply eliminating one medical staff meeting, you could save more than $2,000 in physician, staff, and administrative time. Where do these savings come from? For each meeting, the medical staff office must:

• Type, copy, and distribute an announcement
• Type, copy, and distribute a monthly calendar
• Prepare committee packages
• Notify the dietary and housekeeping departments
• Reserve the meeting room
• Send out reminder notices
• Call physician offices
• Notify administration
• Arrange a pre-meeting conference with the chair and administration
• Copy and distribute meeting packages
• Record, draft, copy, and distribute minutes.

More about streamlining your medical staff office functions can be found in Medical Staff Leaders' Practical Guide, Sixth Edition by William K. Cors, MD, MMM, FACPE; Mary J. Hoppa, MD, MBA; and Richard A. Sheff, MD.