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HealthcareOrganizationAssessment1.docxRunning head: HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATION ASSESSEMENT 1
HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATION ASSESSEMENT 7
Healthcare Organization Assessment
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Healthcare Organization Assessment
Introduction
Healthcare forms a very important part of our lives: health, happiness, wealth and progress in life are all linked to a sound and working healthcare sector. Delivery of healthcare services is, therefore, an important part of our everyday lives. While healthcare is a very wide subject, its breakdown into subsectors that facilitate service delivery and management is equally important. Thumbs Healthcare Limited (as known as THL) is one of the many organizations that specializes in delivering different types of healthcare provided services, to masses focusing on holistic service delivery. While management of the services is an important part of the healthcare industry, leadership and ethical challenges occur daily making the management of such organizations very challenging.
Discussion
Market segmentation and related issues
Considering such undebatable facts, THL is committed to delivering healthcare services to a large market considering three levels of service within this market. The primary care service level which deals with illnesses and injuries of routine nature. The medical practitioners in this fields have general knowledge based on hands-on experience within relatable academic background. The secondary level which indulges in general and some specific areas of surgery like rheumatology which require just more than broad experience. The tertiary service level which demands immense specialty and errorless prowess due to the nature of sensitivity that the medical practitioners in this level deal with. THL depends on seasoned consultants who deliver services on call. The consultants conduct activities like, heart ,neurosurgery and are majorly sourced from several hospitals including the University of Chicago Medical Centre.
The population health approach is best defined to improve the health status of a population and or a subpopulation not necessarily individuals as would be the case with the curative health approach. There are several significant implications of this approach for both management and service delivery. According to a survey conducted in Canada, the population health approach may need to elucidate on the meaning of the term ‘itself’ in order to inform crystal clear expectations around the issues of liability, ownership, roles as well as responsibilities so that also incentive structures can be aligned appropriately. As such, the management at THL has been facing the same challenge leading to a “best judgment” approach whereby medical practitioners are advised to utilize judgment to distinguish treatment approaches for which they will be held culpable for (Greenwald, 2010).
Given the vast scope of the general population, it is impossible to attend to the needs of all patients accordingly. This approach demeans the ideology that accumulative individual health totals to the ultimate population health. Due to the extensive focus on the conditions that predispose adverse health implications, service delivery is rendered on a general platform making it virtually ineffective if there is variance in response to identified medication to a single health condition among different individuals. Though there may be, to a large extent, positive impact on the general population, a few individuals here and there may suffer (Winkler, 2004).
For the population approach to take the desired effect on the target populace, there is an inevitable need for substantial collaboration between THL and the population. This approach limits the scope of authority that could be bestowed upon the people by THL as would be if the organization was operating a curative approach. As such, if the population does not necessarily comply with the outlined necessities to curb predisposing conditions to specific identified health problems, then the success of this approach in technically paralyzed (Greenwald, 2010).
Healthcare leadership
THL prides itself since unmatchable organizational climate that fosters work ethic and irrefutable standard while delivering quality service to the population that it serves so diligently. There is a considerable similarity in the actions of the members of staff and the mission statement tied to the core values of the institution. THL is guided by its mission statement, “A medical institution devoted to providing quality patient care with unrelenting thoughtfulness and responsiveness to clinical excellence, patient protection, and an incomparable passion as well as commitment to assure the very best healthcare for those we serve.” The vision follows that THL wants “to be a protuberant community member renowned for meeting the medical necessities of the all-inclusive community through unsurpassed patient care and wellness initiatives.” The amalgamation of the mission statement and the vision-based entirely on the core values of among others quality healthcare and excellent responsiveness form the basis upon which the organization stands (Greenwald, 2010).
THL staff have a silent code of teamwork especially given the fact that it embraces the population health approach. However, given the incredibly complex communication process needed to ensure conformity with the requisites of cooperation among medical practitioners, there is a lapse on the management side. The management ought to put in place a rather real-time communication mechanism that seeks to ensure fast and efficient internal communication among members of staff, especially when handling emergency cases. THL also conducts bi-annual domestic training to improve the level of prowess among the members of the workforce. However, the institution may want to consider regular international training to keep the employees up to date on matters global best practice (Joint Commission Resources, Inc. 2012).
Ethical and Legal Considerations
THL faces one substantive legal issue. Notably, as is the case with most healthcare companies, the institution is facing compliance issues. Indeed, healthcare transactions are being conducted in rather complex ways; it is becoming progressively problematic to guarantee transactions conform to all federal laws, including the Anti-Kickback Statute, the False Claims Act as well as the Stark Law (Ellison, 2017). THL has had friction with the False Claims Act especially given the fact that private equity is beginning to take center stage in the organization’s transactions. Given the compliance to the requirements of the mission statement, THL has just but one ethical concern. The dilemma between priorities with the primary concern being that efficiency takes preference over quality healthcare is a real headache. As such, the institution saves more on operational costs and procedure at the expense of quality healthcare. The tables may need to turn before the organization drives into murkier territories (Cohen, 2013).
Like many other health organizations, Thumbs Healthcare is faced with a balanced healthcare quality and efficiency. Balancing the safety demands, quality of services and efficiency in a healthcare landscape can be daunting for the medical practitioners and the management. Thumbs Healthcare is not spared as the safety, quality and efficiency issues have always come up. There are cases where the healthcare organization may not get reimbursed for the services provided. This may arise from poor filling of the paperwork, missing information or in some cases the insurance companies my blatantly fail to make reimbursements to the healthcare service providers. This puts the healthcare organization at a tight spot: on hand, it has a legal and ethical obligation to provide healthcare services, but on the other hand, there are management efficiency worries (Cohen, 2013). Since THL is a for-profit healthcare organization, management of service delivery, quality of services, reimbursement challenges and management worries are huge legal and ethical challenges.
Recommendations
To become the healthcare institution of choice, THL management may need to adopt four fundamentally imperative practices. First is the strict adherence to the rule of law. In a bid to avoid a series of lawsuits and maintain an excellent public image, top leadership has the overall mandate to enforce strict conformity to federal statutes through leading by example. Secondly, there is need to consider routine training of medical practitioners seriously. Certainly, the global trend implies that modern technology is taking over making it easier for the employees to dispense quality service with zero to minimal hitches. Learning such skill and eventually practicing it on the job will ultimately lead to better service delivery, better employee satisfaction, and reduced staff turnover. Thirdly, there is need to realign the practices enforced that seek to prioritize efficiency over quality healthcare.
Conclusion
Healthcare is an important part of our functional life owing to the fact that happiness, wealth and peace of mind emanates mostly from good health. THL is one of the many organizations that are providing a full package of healthcare services at different levels. With a full-fledged team, the healthcare organization is playing a critical role in provision of medical necessities of the all-inclusive community through unsurpassed patient care and wellness initiatives. Leadership plays an integral part in providing quality patient care with unrelenting thoughtfulness and responsiveness to clinical excellence, patient protection, and an incomparable passion of service delivery. The importance of efficient communication from the internal and external stakeholders cannot be over-emphasized in daily management operations. Management synchronization ensures that the healthcare center abides by all legal and ethical expectations at all times. Striking a balance between quality of services and management efficiency can be challenging. There is a need of ensuring that a balance is struck so that the ethical and legal expectations are met at all the times. Further, Thumbs Healthcare, like other service providers in the healthcare sector ought to adopt the fundamentally imperative practices proposed and carry out routine training of medical practitioners and management parties as it seeks to prioritize efficiency over quality healthcare.
References
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Cohen, I. G. (2013). The globalization of health care: Legal and ethical issues. Oxford [UK: Oxford University Press.
Ellison, A. (2017). 4 of the most pressing healthcare legal issues. Retrieved October 16, 2017, from https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/legal-regulatory-issues/4-of-the-most-pressing-healthcare-legal-issues-082817.html
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Greenwald, H. P. (2010). Health care in the United States: Organization, management, and policy. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
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Joint Commission Resources, Inc. (2012). From front office to front line: Essential issues for health care leaders. Oakbrook Terrace, Ill: Joint Commission Resources.
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Winkler, R. B. (2004). Organizational climate in a health care setting and its relationship to patient safety.
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