MHA601 Principles of Health Care Administration

Case Study: Reinventing the Orange County Medical Association for the 21st Century

Reflecting on her first 3 months as executive director of the Orange County Medical

Association (OCMA), Michele Blair discovered a number of challenges beyond those she had anticipated. Urged by the association’s president to apply for the position when th e

former director retired after 23 years, Blair had previously worked as the OCMA’s government relations representative and had the fund -raising and business development experience that the board knew the position required.

The OCMA’s executive committee had made it clear that its top priority was to strengthen the OCMA’s advocacy position, especially at the local level. To become a stronger presence,

however, the OCMA needed to grow its membership. Blair was frustrated that most of her workday was spent dealing with time-consuming but insignificant matters. Although she

had an experienced staff to handle these, they lacked ability or interest in doing so or in

developing new skills and systems. The staff and systems she inherited were based on an outmoded business model:

The prior executive director functioned primarily as an office manager and order taker for

the president and executive committee. All seven staff members reported to her.

Staff members spent most of their time on lower level clerical and administrative tasks; most had limited computer proficiency.

The OCMA had no online administrative functions (e.g., dues/event payments by credit card) or social media presence—only a slow, static website that served primarily as an electronic bulletin board.

Her responsibilities as a landlord were Blair’s biggest stressor. The OCMA was proud of its

mortgage-free building and the revenue earned from tenant rentals, but Blair quickly

realized this arrangement had costs, despite its benefits. The aging facili ty had heavy

maintenance and repair needs, difficult tenants made unexpectedly heavy demands on her time, and the staff had limited ability for facility management. Blair found most of the staff

members’ skills and attitudes unsatisfactory, in spite of the ir high performance evaluations.

The budget was tight, so hiring additional staff was not an option. Blair knew she needed to

make some fundamental changes in order to do her job. The only question was where to start and how to persuade the board of the ne cessity for the changes.