Developing organizational policies

1

Developing Organizational Policies and Practices

Patricia Virgil

Walden University

NURS 6053

7/24/2020

ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES 2

Analysis of a Pertinent Health Issue/Stressor

The rising cost of healthcare has affected many households and healthcare organizations

in different ways. According to recent reports from the World Health Organization (WHO), the

number of individuals without insurance coverage has risen steadily by approximately 1.9 million

people (2017-2018), (Papanicolas, Woskie, & Jha, 2018). Additionally, the uninsured rates

increased from 7.9% to 8.5% during the same period. Subsequently, health insurance premiums

have soared, thus affecting access to quality care, particularly for low-income earners (Balak &

Tisell, 2020). The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the many impacts that rising medical costs

have on operations of local healthcare organizations.

National Healthcare Issue/Stressor

Jackson North Medical Center, located in North Miami, Florida, is a 382-bed acute care

center, serving the community of North Miami Beach and south Broward. It is one of three

hospitals within the Jackson health system in affiliation with the University of Miami Hospital.

The hospital, formally known as Parkway medical center, was acquired in 2006 from Tenet Health

corporation (Jacksonhealth.org). According to the chief executive officer (CEO), Carlos Migoya,

the healthcare organization, has continued to face numerous financial challenges associated with

the rising cost of providing essentials medical services to uninsured patients (JacksonHealth.org).

The majority of the patients are either underinsured or uninsured. For instance, an article found in

the Miami new times, Lipscomb (2018), highlighted, in the 2016 fiscal year, Jackson Health

system racked up over 884 million in uncompensated care charges, more than any other hospital

in the nation. REPEATED ERROR – NO PERIOD PRIOR TO THE CITATION (MiamiNew

times). CITATION IS INCOMPLETE.

ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES 3

Informational Summary

Papanicolas, Woskie, and Jha (2018), evaluates the impacts of ever-increasing healthcare

costs as one of the factors affecting US healthcare delivery and clinical systems. The report

provides a comparative evaluation of the United States healthcare compared with other developed

nations—Japan, Australia, Canada, Netherlands, and the UK (Papanicolas, Woskie, & Jha, 2018;

Shrank, Rogstad, & Parekh, 2019). The multiple-payer approach and the non-existence of effective

cost-sharing policies limit access to quality healthcare.

On the other hand, Crowley, Daniel, Cooney, and Engel (2020) examine the challenges

facing the American healthcare system. Access to quality healthcare services is mostly limited in

the rural areas. Currently, the United States is the only wealthy country that has not attained

universal health coverage (Crowley, Daniel, Cooney, & Engel, 2020). The healthcare system is

still inefficient, unsustainable, inaccessible, and unaffordable to most Americans (Crowley,

Daniel, Cooney, & Engel, 2020). The increase in the cost of healthcare for this organization is

associated with excessive, costly medical procedures and an increase in fee for service. In other

healthcare organizations, there is a current effort by some of their advocates to move towards a

single-payer system. Still, several obstacles would make such a plan unfeasible (Ziran & Opry.

2020). In looking at the affordable care act as an option to affordable care, organizations need to

address the current challenges that require repealing some of the essential features of the affordable

care act (ACA). As far as the provision of healthcare service for the uninsured is concerned, some

provisions in the affordable care act are aimed to increase access to care and can make health

coverage more affordable (Williams, Walker & Egede. 2016).

Strategies

ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES 4

THE STRATEGIES ARE TO COME FROM THE LIT REVIEW – I DID NOT SEE

SHRANK AS AN ARTICLE YOU REVIEWED?

Developing Policies and Procedures

THE FIRST REQUIREMENT FOR WEEK 3 IS THE COMPETING NEEDS- THIS

PARAGRAPH IS NOT NEEDED. The first competing need impacting Jackson North Medical

Center is the inadequacy of nursing staff. There is a high turnover of nurses and a constant need to

utilize expensive agency or travel nurses to fill the short staffing gaps. In this case, Jackson North

Medical Center can decrease these costs by finding strategies to retain their existing nursing

workforce. Some strategies that can be implemented to increase retention are incentive plans for

education, opportunities for growth and development within the organization, and rewarding staff

for longevity and service excellence. Such empowerment opportunities are linked to satisfaction

and reduced turnover (Perry, Richter, Beauvais, 2018).

The second competing need impacting Jackson North Medical center is the need for

updated modern medical equipment and testing devices along with expert trained staff who

would be able to maintain quality care, thereby saving cost. One of the objectives of the Jackson

North Health system is to make healthcare more affordable while simultaneously increasing

healthcare quality and reducing unnecessary spending INCORRECT CITATION (Isola, S.

Reddivari, AKR. 2020).

The healthcare practice within Jackson North Medical Center focuses on providing care to

a community who are either uninsured or underinsured. Therefore, financial challenges abound

the provision of care and treatment services to poverty-stricken areas. The policy to address the

staffing discrepancies can be retrieved from the Public health Trust (PHT) policy manual at

ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES 5

Jackson North Medical Center. Policy 1.010. addresses the staffing needs of this facility along

with the required amount of nursing staff needed to accomplish the goal of delivering high-quality,

safe patient care (CITATION, YEAR). YOU ARE TO IDENTIFY EITHER A POLICY OR

PRACTICE – IF USING A POLICY – NEED TO DELETE ALL INFORMATION ABOUT A

PRACTICE.

Primarily, nurses are supposed to be committed to their patients, and they must ensure their

patients are safe while being cared for, The ethical consideration associated with the identified

Nurse staffing policy 1.010 is, high administrative costs which adversely affects the ability of

healthcare organizations to secure adequate staffing, to provide efficient care to patients. At

Jackson North Medical Center, due to a commitment of absorbing the cost of healthcare services

to the underinsured or uninsured, this can lead to increased expenses for the organization, thus

affecting the acquisition of additional staffing. Increased cost of providing healthcare services

poses a challenge in balancing the procurement of medical services and the provision of essential

healthcare services (Aitken, Chaboyer, & Marshall, 2019). Working in a facility with a high

turnover of nursing staff is associated with increased emotional burnout among existing nurses and

other healthcare professionals.

The nursing practice requires increased allocation of financial and nursing resources to

ensure seamless processes in the provision of essential services (Olson, et al., 2019). The strength

of the selected policy within this organization is, it will increase the retention of professional

nursing staff, which will boost affordable healthcare services, especially among the

underprivileged groups. Therefore, understanding which interventions are useful to reduce

turnover rates is essential to managers and health care organizations INCORRECT CITATION

(Halter, M. et al. 2017). TOO MUCH INFORMATION. The policy challenges associated with

ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES 6

the identified nursing staffing policy 1.010 at Jackson North Medical Center is the promotion of

ethical decision-making. In this case, the ethical obligation of the health administrators is to

enhance both access and quality of care. Utilitarianism focuses on the need to attain the best

outcomes when implementing healthcare services (Fernandez, 2020). The leadership of Jackson

North Medical Center should adopt options that will result in the attainment of the greatest benefits

to many individuals.

WHAT IS THIS PARAGRAPH? I HAVE MOVED ITEMS AROUND SO THEY GO

INTO THE CORRECT SEQUENTIAL ORDER FOR THE UNIVERSITY REQUIREMENTS

The competing needs to balance policies or practices for patients at Jackson North Medical Center

are to ensure there is reliable, good quality medical equipment, which will, in turn, improved

medical services that meet the healthcare needs of the patients. It is vital to have reliable equipment

and have the staff who are experts in operating them. Because patients are smart shoppers, they

will go where they can get the latest and best options. For the organization, the increased burden

of medical services for the uninsured and underinsured individuals, is a critical concern among the

relevant stakeholders in the health sector (Olson, et al., 2019). THEN ANOTHER COMPETING

NEED, IDENTIFY THE RECOMMENDATION TO BALANCE THE NEEDS OF WORKERS

(CITATION, YEAR). The practice or policy to balance the competing needs for healthcare

resources depends on the competency of the leadership and administrative team, having updated

medical equipment, and an adequate workforce to provide affordable, efficient care. Leaders play

a crucial role in ensuring that the healthcare system organized to function efficiently. It is essential

for the leaders who are at the forefront to have the knowledge and skills to anticipate the needs, as

it pertains to the much-needed resources for optimum functioning. Apart from having a competent

leadership and administrative team, time and money have always been a critical commodity for

ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES 7

organizations; indeed, one of the primary goals of an effective organization is to maximize

resources while minimizing costs (Shuffler, Diazgranados, Maynard & Salas. 2018).

THEN YOU WERE TO IDENTIFY ETHICAL SHORTCOMINGS OF THE POLICY.

The practice desired to balance the identified competing needs for healthcare organizations is to

cut down on unnecessary expenses associated with the provision of healthcare services. To

increase funding, the organization must first conduct a cost-benefit assessment, which is critical in

determining the allocation of financial resources (Shrank, Rogstad, & Parekh, 2019). Second, there

is a need to implement a wellness program for the staff, which can be useful in preventing or

reducing expenses associated with the increasing rates of absenteeism due to stress and burnout.

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT REQUIREMENT ANY OF THESE PARAGRAPHS

REPRESENT.

IN THIS REQUIRED SECTION YOU WERE TO DO TWO LIT REVIEWS – YOU

HAVE COMPLETED SOME RESEARCH, BUT I DON’T SEE ANY LIT REVIEWS.

Globally, the rising cost of healthcare services remains a critical concern among various

stakeholders, including government, health administrators, and professional nurses. Financial

resources, modern technology, along with medical equipment and devices, are at the heart of the

improvement of healthcare services delivery. Population growth and the aging population

contribute to the increasing national healthcare costs by 23% and 12%, respectively (Papanicolas,

Woskie, & Jha, 2018; Goldberg & Fleming, 2016). The enormous costs of health insurance

premiums are a critical concern in the administration of healthcare services (Aitken, Chaboyer, &

Marshall, 2019). Americans are currently paying more out-of-pocket by approximately $13,000

per family (Papanicolas, Woskie, & Jha, 2018; Balak & Tisell, 2020). Based on ethical challenges

Commented [EWT1]: THIS DOESN’T MEET THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THIS SECTION.

ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES 8

in healthcare settings, health administrators must address ethical issues associated with the

provision of healthcare services.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is paramount importance to note that medical costs are some of the

drivers of healthcare service provision. The rising cost of healthcare, affordable insurance,

healthcare services, and updated medical equipment impact the competing needs at Jackson North

Medical Center. The health facility has strategized on practical approaches to address the

challenges of insufficient financial resources to meet the administrative costs. The management of

risks associated with medical equipment, including responding to adverse incidents, should also

be undertaken within a corporate framework (Luxon, L.2015). The creation of active policies,

practices, and ethical frameworks is crucial in dealing with the identified challenges in this selected

healthcare facility. The acquisition of new and updated medical equipment will ensure seamless

processes in the administration of healthcare services (Balak & Tisell, 2020).

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ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES 9

References

Not in alphabetical order

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