The Process of Benchmarking - Term Paper Example

The Benchmarking Process The Benchmarking Process Introduction In laymans terms, benchmarking is a process of comparing the processes and action plans implemented in an institution with those implemented in other similar institutions with an intention of identifying areas the can be improved in order to progress the competitiveness of the institution (Baker and Baker, 2014). In benchmarking, an institution compares its performance with that of an analogous institution in a bid to find out how the other institution achieves its high performance levels and use the information to improve their own performance (Kay, 2007).

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the process of benchmarking is important in financial decision making. Summary of article An online quantitative research study of Jackson Health Care title Nurses downtime 2011 survey elucidates various aspects of benchmarking. This survey offers information that can be used by other organizations for comparison. Factors for comparison outlined in this survey include time spent in indirect care, issues that affect bedside nurse, recommendations on how to increase time spent on patients bedsides, job satisfaction among nurses, and ways to improve job satisfaction.

Jackson Health Care has implemented strategies to improve these areas between 2009 and 2011and hence offers a credible basis for comparison. How the article informed my understanding This article informed my understanding of benchmarking in that inequalities in relation to performance gaps are prevalent in healthcare and identifying these variances can help align processes in low performing institutions with those in organizations that perform highly. Subsequently, this article informed my understanding in that benchmarking can either be internal or external.

External benchmarking is what is denoted as comparing the processes of an institution with another. How benchmarking can be used indecision making Benchmarking involves the creation of specific objectives that ought to be achieved in a healthcare organization to achieve high levels of performance. In my organization, benchmarking can be used to assess the existing strategies under implementation and as mentioned earlier, compare them with those in other similar organizations. During this process, financial data relating to other organizations are collected and analyzed.

It is only through this process that what needs to be done to improve performance in terms of finances can be identified and achieved in my organization. As Baker and Baker (2014) points out, "Benchmarking is used for opportunity assessment" (p. 220). In other words, benchmarking can help my organization to identify opportunities and consequently make pronouncements to direct funds in these areas. Benchmarking can also be related to budgeting. Data collected can predict the future conditions within the institution and therefore decisions made to implement action plans early enough in order to avert any problems in future.

When areas that need adjustments are identified through benchmarking, budgets can also be formulated with benchmarking as the basis (Baker and Baker, 2014). Potential risks Establishing the credibility of the organization to compare with in benchmarking is imperative. This is because there are potential risks involved in making comparisons with an organization that is not a credible match with your own. In my opinion, non-credible organizations can give the wrong implications and hence the organization end up implementing wrong decisions hence risk lowering their standards.

Implementing wrong strategies as a result of adopting wrong decisions from non-credible organizations may also crumble operations hence leading to wastage. According to Care Logistics (n.d), "The fragmentation of a hospitals activities across departmental operational silos propagates waste, compromising throughput" (p. 1). Crumbling of procedures or processes may also impact negatively on job satisfaction as it also means that communication systems will be crumbled as well. This translates to reduced productivity.

In a nutshell, benchmarking acts as the basis for decision making. Through benchmarking, areas that need improvements can be identified and strategies implemented to improve performance in these areas. For instance, a decision to direct funds to areas with low productivity using strategies adopted from a top performer organization through benchmarking can significantly improve productivity or performance. ReferencesBaker, J., & Baker, R. W. (2014). Health care finance: Basic tools for nonfinancial managers (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.

Care Logistics (n.d.). Hospital Operating System: Unleashing throughput potential (Executive Summary). Retrieved from http://www.carelogistics.com/media/36551/exec%20summary-white%20paper%20- %20hosp%20op%20sys%20-%20final.pdf Jackson Health care (2011). Nurses downtime 2011 survey: An online quantitative research study. Retrieved from http://www.carelogistics.com/media/53302/120131_nurses_survey_2011_results_for_ public_use.pdfKay, J. F. (2007). Health Care Benchmarking. Medical Bulletin, 12(2), 22-27.