ABSTRACT
The importance of an assessment process in improving productivity is that it establishes a base of information against which change can be compared and it directs attention to and provides a focus on improvement targets. For organizations in a highly competitive market, productivity provides the winning edge. To realize the full impact of a productivity effort, the concept must become a way of life for each individual employee in the organization. Strategies often take the form of joint labor-management projects with the dual objectives of improving productivity and the quality of work life. A review of productivity literature would alert any reader to the fact that productivity measurement is a vital part of any productivity effort. For most health care productivity efforts, however, it has been the only productivity effort. Payroll is the greatest percentage of a hospital budget, so industrial engineers and workload measures continue to be the backbone of productivity for health care.
