Editing

Shady Acres Healthcare systems (SAHS) is a not-for-profit organization first and foremost.  This particular health organization has grown into a healthcare conglomerate that boasts four skilled nursing facilities, one hospice care facility, seven community care clinics, a pharmacy distribution service, a home health care unit and a laboratory. Although the company has experienced an overall excellent reputation from its community, it has also recently seen a decrease as a business and healthcare organization. This decrease in organizational success is because of multiple, chronic issues in the quality of care that the organization is providing. For the organization to avoid progressively making their reputation worse, the concerns of quality need to be observed, recognized and addressed. This portion of the analysis will be focusing on the observation of the current issues at hand that plague the company.

Shady Acres Health Systems is somewhat directly at fault for its current economic downturn as a healthcare organization due to several self-inflicted organizational failures. One of the major, self-inflicted errors made by the company is neglecting the importance of implementing an electronic health records system (EHR) throughout its facilities in this electronic day and age. EHR’s are known to be the “standard” for medical facilities on a national scale as of late (HealthIT.gov, 2018). This system is recognized for its’, “…real-time, patient-centered records that make information available instantly and securely to authorized users” (HealthIT.gov, 2018). EHR’s are known for their efficient access to patient and community data collection (AthenaHealth.com, 2019). EHR’s also provide extensive patient medical history recognition, and seamless communication among affiliated medical facilities (AthenaHealth.com, 2019). The electronic health record system is used specifically to create, gather, and manage health information regarding a patient.  The information can be managed and consulted by authorized providers and staff within a healthcare organization. The health record can be transmitted and shared with other healthcare organizations and providers.  No organizational EHR is the same.  Each implementation is different and relies on multiple factors that are integrated such as budget, data needs, automated systems and other factors. (Bowie, Ch.5, 2016)

The EHR will impact the organization in five essential ways: the delivery of care, patient outcomes, public health outcomes, increased workforce skills and on the go healthcare.  Delivery of care will be impacted positively from an increase in workflow efficiencies while also demonstrating a decrease in medical record error.  This allows providers to spend more time with patients ultimately resulting in an improved relationship. The system that the CMO uses drives decision making because CMO’s can see important health information in regard to medication trends and patients whom are being treated for specific conditions.  This all correlates with the health initiatives within the organization. 

Health initiatives are then in response created to this information because providers can help manage patient risks and improve overall health initiatives.  Prevention of outbreaks is just one specific and very significant example. The EHR is used by streamlining the provider’s workflow.  The software has the ability to support other providers with the sharing of health information and other care related activities.  The software is able to do so through a variety of interfaces including evidence-based decision support, quality management, and outcomes reporting. Improving quality of care and limiting healthcare mistakes and errors will in return aid the financial deficit for SAHS (CMS, 2012). For an extensive organization such as Shady Acres to limit itself by not having a uniform electronic system, such as an EHR, demonstrates the organization’s deficiency of communication and workflow efficiencies among its many facilities. 

Technology diffusion has been accompanied by issues of cost, safety, benefit, and risk. Federal legislation has aimed at addressing these concerns. In opinion, safety is the most important area for focus. Patient safety is a serious topic and health care industry concern among the United States.  Hospital errors have become the third leading cause of death in the United States.  Hospital facilities are a place where patients should feel supported and confident in the care level and satisfaction they receive.  “Healthcare is composed of a variation of complexities that open the doors to the potential for human and systems errors. These errors can promote unsafe environments for both the patient and the providers of service. For this matter, there is an assortment of tools designed to identify causes of error that can lead to harmful and sometimes very dangerous situations.  Identifying the causes behind these errors is important and selecting the right tool to determine causes is as important” (Connelly, 2012).

Often times identifying causes and implementation for improvement does not take place. In regard to existence to the problem, in response every year thousands of accidents and faults occur.  Overall 440,000 Americans will die annually from possibly preventable hospital inaccuracies.  (Duvall, 2013). The following display of statistics presented by Becker’s Healthcare is based upon hospital based acquired conditions, adverse events and overall patient safety.  

For every 1,000 hospital admissions Nationwide in 2010 there were: 49 patients that experienced adverse drug events, 40 patients that developed pressure ulcers, 27 patients that developed some other hospital-acquired condition, 12 patients that developed catheter-associated urinary tract infections, 8 patients that fell while in the hospital, 3 patients that developed surgical site infections, 3 patients that experienced obstetric adverse events, 1.2 patients that contracted ventilator-associated pneumonia, 0.5 patients that developed central line-associated bloodstream infections and 0.5 patients that had a venous thromboembolism. (Rizzo, 2014, para. 1)

 

For more insight as to what potential threats and error patients actually receive, 

The Becker's Infection Control & Clinical Quality editorial team has provided documentation of the most common patient safety issues that may arise.  The potential threats in regard to patient safety are discharge practices, medication errors, diagnostic errors, facility safety, sepsis and infection amongst others.  (Barnet, Green & Punke, 2016, pg.1).

These statistics documented and reported show that there is much room for growth and improvements within hospital facilities.  Problems have been addressed in the past by organizations such as The Institute of Medicine reporting and demanding for dramatic changes and improvements.  It was over ten years ago that the organization reported worrying statistics regarding medical errors in the United States.  The organization called for a national effort to make dramatic improvements to address the concerns and medical errors that were taking place.  In order to improve upon these inaccuracies, patient safety needs to become a top priority for facilities and all staff members involved.  Doing so will not only initiate and pledge a higher quality of care, but the risk of accidental and preventable deaths can ultimately be avoided.  

Poor economic conditions have resulted in reduced home healthcare facilities in the healthcare center. Other factors have also declined due to the decline in the overall net operating profit. More so, there is a decline in the state assistance reimbursement, yet there is an increase in funding for the healthcare facility and its skilled nursing facility. The strategic plan to preventive care to help reduce the repeated patient visits that can help to cut down the cost

Employees retention, as the survey conducted to the employee to see the customer satisfaction levels. The new implemented system offers the employees with better pay and benefits that help to retain them. SAHS offer compensation packages as well as the implementation of the marketing adjustment. The healthcare facilities consider offering more competitive packages. Health care facilities should prevent losing skilled employees.

Effective marketing is essential to any business. As a non-profit hospice, Shady Acres has been providing excellent care but has not been sharing the care that is provided. In an effort to expand our brand, we need to expand our marketing. Marketing for hospice is a unique market. It develops with partnerships. “…many hospice organizations do not have a dedicated marketing staff person, have a limited marketing budget, do not fully utilize all strategic planning tools, and have yet to differentiate themselves via branding. “ (Matthews, Peters & Lawson, 2017). To change this for Shady Acres, we need to do the opposite. We need to create one person in each area that is responsible for marketing. I suggest we create a position called a care rep whose role is to market the hospice to physician’s offices, nursing homes and senior activity centers. We need to ensure that we have a strong mission, vision and values that all staff understand and support, so our brand is polished. We also need to target minority areas as they are an untapped area in hospice services that could increase our patient population. (Wright & Raven, 2015).

The current state of SAHS is clearly one that suffers from internal and external variables at the moment. Their lack of an EHR system and proper marketing of their services have negatively impacted their ability to increase workflow efficiencies, quality of care and organizational profits. Increased competition in a struggling economy has unfortunately shifted potential profits and workers away from SAHS as well as patients and medical professionals look for the best opportunity within the current medical market. Although the company has several issues hindering its financial performance lately, these issues also present organizational opportunities to grow, adapt and succeed in these trying, competitive times. These opportunities will be discussed in detail in the next group submission of SAHS company analysis. 

 

 

References:

AthenaHealth.com. (2019, March 05). Advantages of Electronic Health Records | Knowledge Hub. Retrieved April 20, 2019, from https://www.athenahealth.com/knowledge-hub/ehr/advantages 

 

Barnet, S., Green, M., & Punke, H. (2016, January 12). 10 top patient safety issues for 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2019, from http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/quality/10-top-patient-safety-issues-for-2016.html  

 

Chief Medical Officer. (2018, April 12). Retrieved April 17, 2019, from https://www.vocera.com/chief-medical-officer 

 

CMS. (2012, March 26). Electronic Health Records - Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Retrieved from https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/E-Health/EHealthRecords/index.html

            

Duvall, A. (2013, October 23). Hospital Errors are the Third Leading Cause of Death in U.S., and New Hospital Safety Scores Show Improvements Are Too Slow. Retrieved April 19, 2019, from http://www.hospitalsafetyscore.org/newsroom/display/hospitalerrors-thirdleading-causeofdeathinus-improvementstooslow

  

HealthIT.gov. (2018, November 9). What are the advantages of electronic health records? Retrieved April 20, 2019, from https://www.healthit.gov/faq/what-are-advantages-electronic-health-records 

 

Matthews, M., Peters, C., & Lawson, S. (2017). An exploratory investigation of hospice marketing: How are palliative care providers marketing their services?. Health marketing quarterly, 34(1), 48-61.

 

 Rizzo, E. (2014, January 31). 15 Statistics on Patient Safety, Distribution of HAIs. Retrieved April 18, 2019, from http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/quality/15-statistics-on-patient-safety-distribution-of-hais.html  

 

Williams, Mark. (2015). Chief Medical Officer. SMA. Retrieved from https://sma.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Williams_MF_2015_CMO_Role1.pdf 

Wright, C., & Raven, D. (2015). P-44 Improving access to hospice services: a cross organizational approach to enhance ethnic diversity