Human resource studies in healthcare often focus on how organizations acquire needed personnel affect quality or mortality outcomes in various locations. However, as a multitude of previous studies have contended, desired outcomes are not realized through this limited conception of human resource management. Hospitals often fail to realize how to most effectively and efficiently use human capital, both in terms of producing effective outcomes and utilizing the knowledge , skill, and abilities present in their workforce.
This study consists of three related components, each of which demonstrates the impact of human resource practices in hospital settings. The first study reviews existing conceptualizations of Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) and sets forth propositions defining the impact such systems have on individual and organizational performance. The second study tests several of those propositions through evaluating hospital HRIS use and hospital acquired condition (HAC) outcomes as reported by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. By large, this study demonstrates limited association between HRIS ues and improvements in HAC , however results do provide indication that additional association may exist. The third study is a cost effectiveness analysis which examines different team compositions of rapid response teams. Results indicate that teams which consist of members of existing cardiac arrest teams as well as new team members are the most cost – effective as measured by quality of life years gained.
The intergrated analysis of three studies demonstrate the need to invest in the effective management of hospital human resources, how strategic human resource (HR) practices can benefit both the organization and those receiving care, and how organizations can better implement strategic innovations. The contribution of research is the improved understanding of different manners by which human resource practices improve the effectiveness and efficiency of hospitals. This contribution is significant because the most expensive aspect of any hospital are its human resources, and better understanding of the relationship between administrative decisions and clinical outcomes as related to human resource can greatly improve hoe effectively those resources are used.