Za zagotovitev učinkovitega poslovanja bolnišnice se je smiselno usmeriti na tista področja, kjer lahko s spremembami pričakujemo največje učinke na poslovanje. Ker predstavljajo stroški dela več kot polovico vseh stroškov bolnišnice, je smiselno, da uvedemo sistem evidentiranja efektivnega dela. Na ta način stroški dela ne bodo odražali časa, ki ga posameznik preživi na delovnem mestu v bolnišnici, ampak dejansko delo. Uvedba takšnega sistema poteka v dveh korakih. V prvem koraku moramo ugotoviti oziroma določiti nabor nalog, ki jih opravljajo zaposleni v bolnišnici, v drugem koraku izračunati letno obveznost zaposlenih, nato pa oblikovati je potrebno normative, ki vsebujejo informacije o tem, koliko časa potrebujemo za izvedbo posameznih nalog ob upoštevanju intenzivnosti umskega dela. Dejstvo, da je delo v bolnišnicah pretežno umsko, močno otežuje opredelitev sistema evidentiranja efektivnega dela. Izvajalci osnovnega poslanstva vsake bolnišnice so namreč v večini raznolika in visoko izobražena delovna sila, ki jo imenujemo umski delavci. Zato je nujno, da sistem sloni na normativih, ki upoštevajo značilnosti umskega dela. Pri oblikovanju sistema evidentiranja efektivnega dela v bolnišnici, ki ga predstavljamo v prispevku, izhajamo iz znane metodologije merjenja umskega dela, ki jo prikazujemo na primeru zdravljenja zunajbolnišnične pljučnice. In order to ensure efficient business operations at a hospital, it is sensible to focus on areas where the effects of changes can be the most visible. Since the cost of labour accounts for more than half of the total hospital costs, introducing a system of quantifying and monitoring knowledge work seems reasonable. Under this system, the costs of labour would not reflect time spent at the workplace, but would become the reflection of actual work. Two steps are necessary for the introduction of such a system. For the first step, it is necessary to establish or determine a set of tasks that compose an employee's job at a hospital, while the second step comprises of calculating the same employee's annual work obligation. Standards for human resources must be established that would contain both information on the time necessary to perform a specific task and the corresponding intensity of knowledge work necessary for each task. Defining a system for quantifying and monitoring such work is made more difficult by the very fact that knowledge work is predominant in a hospital. The providers of the basic mission in any hospital are largely a diverse and highly educated workforce we refer to as knowledge workers. Therefore it is necessary that this system depends on standards of human resources that reflect the characteristics of knowledge work. The design of the system for quantifying and monitoring the effectiveness of work in a hospital setting, presented in this article, was derived from a known framework for quantification of knowledge work. We presented our methodology on a case of treating community-acquired pneumonia.