It should come as no surprise to most readers of this blog that healthcare costs are spiraling out of control. Total GDP dedicated to healthcare is running at more than 18 percent in the US and will breach the 20 percent mark over the next decade, taking its toll on the economy as a whole.

Part of fighting against this involves healthcare managers and administrators improving their productivity and finding ways to save money. Doing that, however, is a challenge. If it were easy to boost productivity in the healthcare space, people would have already done it.

The trick appears to lie in a combination of education and better use of people resources. The administrative staff can play a potentially outsized role in the reduction of medical costs and improvements in the quality of care.

High-quality administrators should be able to do three things: keep expenses low, reduce the wasting of money, and use the management skills learned during education, all why keeping the quality of patient care high.

Doing this requires more than merely going to work and going through the motions. Healthcare administrators need to be able to understand the tools available to them to make profound changes in the organizations that they work for. Not only must they have the managerial power to affect change, but also the knowledge of the processes and technologies that can make it happen.

Take a look at the following infographic on how healthcare administrators can improve efficiency in the healthcare system. Excellent administration is both creative and procedural.

Infographic by  University of Southern California