Exploring the Components of Health Care Management - Essay Example

? Principles of Healthcare Management Component Critical incident A critical incident that I came across involved a patientwho was suffering some stomach problems since two days. She was an old lady and she visited the doctor who considered it as a common stomach problem suggested her some medicines. Her age and her medical history were ignored by the doctors. She came again with the same complaint, and again she was recommended some medicines that would cure her stomach issues. However, there were continuous events taking place and the seriousness was neglected. The next time she came, she complained of asthma. She claimed that she had difficulties in breathing and her heartbeat was unusually fast. Her family members kept on asking the doctors what the issue was, but they said it was just normal because of her age. They did not suggest her any serious tests and gave her medicines for asthma, knowing she was an old asthma patient. The old lady had already made three visits to the hospital in one week, and her fourth visit was at 5a.m when her daughter rushed into the emergency claiming that the old lady could not breathe and had a severe asthma attack. She could not walk and breathe at all. At first, all the doctors in the hospital were sleeping on their desks. When they were awakened by the junior staff members, they rushed her in the emergency. There was a chaos in the hospital and because of which the doctors were not prepared for this emergency. There was no nurse to operate the E.C.G machine so that the state of the heart could be checked. The lady was given continuous supply of oxygen. The E.C.G machine had to be operated by the doctor, and it was seen that the heartbeat was unstable, and the old lady was sinking. There were sudden medicines needed but the pharmacy man took a while to provide them as his store was not in a running position at 5 in the morning. Eventually, the old lady died, and the reason stated on the death certificate was cardiovascular. The lady had no history of cardiovascular. That is when the hospital staff and doctors got vigilant, and realized what happened. One of the symptoms of heart attack is an upset stomach. The old lady was suffering from stomach problems since three days and the doctors did not bother to think whether there can be another reason for this or not. The lady was old and tests and precautions should be taken when it is about an old person who is internally weak naturally. She was gradually developing a heart attack because of which she faced all the minor issues. Her complaint for asthma was also because of the strain on her heart. Moreover, the moment she was bought to the hospital, she could not receive proper treatment as quick as possible. But as suggested, the doctors did their best. Component 2: Analysis Resource management is one of the most important principles of healthcare management that need to be carried out by the hospital (Ferlie and Shortell, 2002, p315). Resource management means that the hospital resources should be used in the most efficient ways. The resources that a hospital uses are the staff members, medicines and the equipment. Resource management means that these resources should be managed in such a way that the patient gets the treatment that he deserves with the correct doctor and the correct equipment (Sandra, 2007, p17). The hospital management has to take care that no patient faces a shortage of the resources because some other patient is overusing them (Lemieux et al, 2002, p553). Equal distribution of the resources is very important mainly because a hospital may have limited resources and this means that they need to be used efficiently (Dubnicki and Limburg, 1991, p11). The resource management should also be to make sure that the hospital does not face any shortage of resources, and if it does they are supplied before a patient feels the need of them. Another important thing to manage is to make sure that the resources are not wasted. The main aim to provide the best of healthcare to the patients, and to fulfill the aim the resource management is very important, as the resources are the part of the healthcare facilities without which healthcare efficiency is not possible (Wenzel et al, 995, p611). In the incident mentioned, the hospital did not manage their resources properly. The doctors were not efficient enough to suggest measures that could be taken to avoid a sudden attack, or some tests could be recommended that would have shown the heart problem that the old lady was developing. Moreover, the staff efficiency was also not seen at the time when the old lady was rushed in for the emergency. The doctors and the machines were not ready to treat the old lady. Also, the pharmacist was unable to provide the medicines in time. This greatly showed the mismanagement of resources that were available but not utilized in the proper way. Teamwork has been stated as an important aspect of healthcare provision. Teamwork can be helpful in many areas and healthcare is also one of them (Henderson, 1995, 44). As seen in history, teamwork has always proven to be an effective way to carry out duties. The division of labor is also a very important factor that includes in the management of teamwork in healthcare. When it is about healthcare, there can be many serious issues that result from the inefficiency of the healthcare team. For the management, effective teamwork should be considered as an asset. The ongoing teamwork in a healthcare organization is what provides a healthy environment to the patients and contributes in healthcare efficiency (Robbins et al, 2001, p202). Teamwork requires the different members of the healthcare team to carry out objectives with a mutual aim. This requires the activity to be carried out by all the members of the team. The decision making is either by the team leader, or by shared decision making. This helps in the responsibilities being divided amongst the team members. An individual is not responsible for the activities he performs, but also for the tasks carried out by his teammates resulting in avoiding conflicts that may arise otherwise. Teamwork enables effective communication which plays an important part in delivering the best health services to the patients. It is one way in which the healthcare organization can track towards success without any barrier. It will be able to provide good services to the patients, and produce a good working environment for them. The labor does not have to use their specialized skills in order to be efficient, they have to work collectively with one another and share the experience, skill and strategies (Wallick and Stager, 2001, p402). In this incident, teamwork would have played a vital role in managing to give the old lady proper treatment on proper time. The junior staff, the doctors, the pharmacist and the nurses should have worked collectively with bonding to try to treat the lady better. If they communicated well, they could have performed better in the treatment and a chaos would not have been created. Operation management and strategic implementations, tools and techniques are very important to improve quality and reduce costs. In healthcare, operation management provides the ways in which hospitals can strategize and organize their aims and resources in order to produce efficient results. Operation management includes four principles; planning, organizing, leading and controlling. These principles are the basis of providing effective healthcare facilities to the patients (Weiner et al, 1997, p510). Planning is the first and foremost principle on which all the other principles depend. Before carrying out any job, there has to be planning. There have to be aims and goals set according to which the organization works and moves forward. An outline of all the important tasks and strategies should be pre-planned and communicated to all the delegates. It becomes easier for the staff members to learn and understand their tasks if they know the aims that they have to fulfill. Then comes organizing, that has to be done once the planning is complete. The organizing means that all the goals are set and now the planning has to take the form of a structure in which the management analyzes each task as to which resources will be used for which task, which staff member will do the desired task, what will be the expected outcome and so on. This is the organization of all the resources according to the planning (Malat, 2001, p360). Leading is the third principle which comes after organizing. There has to be one member of the team that will lead all the others. This can either be the manager or a selected staff member. The leader holds more responsibility as compared to the other subordinates. He reports directly to the manager and is answerable for the ones who are working under him. Leading healthcare facilities in the right way help many patients and develop a trust level with the members of the organization. Controlling is the fourth principle of the operation management which suggests that the manager should keep a control on all the activities and tasks throughout the organization. This is to make sure that the planning is being followed accurately, the organizational structure is managed and the leadership is up to the mark. A continuous control over the whole organization management is the key to a successful organization. In a healthcare organization, the control is required fully in order to make sure of productive facilities to the patients (Volpe et al, 1996, p100). In the related incident, it is seen that the operation management of the hospital was weak. The management and the control over the organizational structure resulted in the poor treatment provided to the patient. If the work was properly organized and controlled amongst the staff, the mismanagement would not have been caused (Morey et al, 2002, 1553). The managerial tools are used in order to evaluate the employee’s performance and their contribution in the organization. These include scorecards, performance measures and performance indicators that help the manager to analyze the status of the employees of the organization. These performance measures and indicators record the performance of the employees, their services to the patients and the patient’s satisfaction. The managers keep a check through these tools and any negativity seen is acted upon immediately. This keeps the employees motivated and efficient towards their work and also helps in finding better ways to improve (Edmondson, 1999, p353). In the incident mentioned, it clearly shows how much these managerial tools are important to evaluate the performance of each employee. The employees did not perform well to treat the patient well, and in fact they did not communicate effectively resulting in a chaos. Managerial tools would avoid such performances by the employees and motivate them to effective patient care. Effective management is important to a great extent in order to produce positive outcomes. In a healthcare organization, management is the most important thing as it has to be an effectively managed organization in order to be successful. For good reputation, there has to be a good management control over the workers and the resources that are being utilized (West et al, 2002, p1310). Planning and scheduling is an important management feature that allows the healthcare services to be planned and avoid any mismanagement that could prove to be harmful for the patient’s life. In healthcare, management is a highlighted factor because the organization can not afford to bail on the health matters of the patients. There has to be a positive outcome, and for that there has to be good management. Since the work done in the healthcare organization is generally continuous and unexpected, such as emergency cases. The staff members and the resources should be prepared all the time in order to produce effective results. There need to be a workflow in the management and that is what will help to produce the desired outcomes. Managing and controlling is the key features to a successful organization (Sicotte et al, 1993, p609). The management also has to make sure that the technologies and medicines that they are using are all up-to-date. When it is about the healthcare, such details are very important and they contribute greatly in producing positive outcomes. This also creates a trust level between the organization and the customer. This trust level is important when the healthcare organization is working for the health issues of the patients. The patients would go to the organization that is well reputed and thus trustable. Healthcare organizations also have the responsibility to provide a variety of facilities, and a flexibility of resources so that whatever is needed can be provided at the moment. All this is included in the effective management and proves to be very important for positive outcomes. The strategies that can be used in order to manage the conflicts can be many but the most important are to collaborate and compromise. Although teamwork plays an important role in managing and avoiding conflicts, sometimes there can be consequences where teamwork is the root of all conflicts. Staff members may find it difficult to get along and work together and that may cause conflicts. The best way to overcome these conflicts is to hold sessions in which the staff members should be told about their positions and the ways in which they all are equal (Pronovost, et al, 2003, p75). Motivation helps a lot in avoiding conflicts. Motivational sessions should be held in which the staff members would feel self actualization and realize their importance in the organization. Every staff member should be motivated to do their own work and show their skills effectively to the organization. Intervention in each other’s work would create conflicts, thus every member should be delegated different work (Zurn et al, 2004, p13). Conflicts can also be resolved by compromising at the point where all the staff members come to one solution and the majority agrees. There has to be compromise to some extent in order to promote a healthy environment in the organization. The manager has to make sure that there is a point where all the staff members agree with each other and with the decision. Clear and unambiguous communication is very important as it allows the decision making and the instructions to be effectively carried out. Without proper communication, it is impossible for the healthcare management to carry out decisions and plans appropriately. The organizational structure should be in a way that all the staff members are in touch with one another and help each other to carry out the tasks delegated to them. In some organizations, the organization structure chart is displayed and handed over to each employee so that he does not have the communication problem as to whom he is liable. Effective communication methods are very important to use otherwise there can be misunderstandings about the message given. In special cases, such as an emergency, there should be critical ways of communicating with each other (Kabene et al, 2006, p20). In the critical incident, there were communication problems at the time the old lady was bought into the hospital. The doctors were unable to communicate with the nurse who had to operate the E.C.G machine, and the pharmacist who took time in providing the medicines in such an unusual time. When an emergency case arrives, there should be special communications to all the staff members about the emergency so that all of them can be prepared. If there was proper communication management, the E.C.G machine could have worked on time and the medicines that were to be provided could be given immediately. This would have resulted in proper treatment given to the old lady without any chaos amongst the employees. It has been critically analyzed that there are many factors that are important in the principle management of healthcare. Healthcare is an area where there has to be services and facilities that are flawless to make sure that the patient is getting the care he needs. It is always a question about life and death and thus the organization, its management and its staff members should make sure that they play their role vitally. The organizational structure, the management techniques and tools, the motivation of employees, the strategies for effective teamwork, the planning and the communication skills are all necessary factors that make a successful organization. These factors enable an organization to have their goal setting, to have the structure of their organization showing the delegations of work, to strategize their ways of working in a team and to improve their communication techniques in order to create a positive and productive organization. References Dubnicki C, Limburg W. (1991). ‘How do healthcare teams measure up?’ The Healthcare Forum Journal. 1991; 34:10–11 Ferlie EB, Shortell SM. (2002). ‘Improving the quality of health care in the United Kingdom and the United States: A framework for change’. The Milbank Quarterly. 2001; 79:281–315 Edmondson A. (1999). ‘Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams’. Administrative Science Quarterly. 1999; 44:350–353 Henderson MD. (1995). ‘Operations management in health care’. J Health Care Finance. 1995 spring; 21(3):44-7. Kabene, S, Orchard, C., Harward, J., Soriano, A., Leduc, R. (2006). ‘The importance of human resources management in health care: a global context’. Hum Resour Health. 2006; 4: 20 Lemieux-Charles L, Murray M, Baker GR, Barnsley J, Tasa K, Ibrahim SA. (2002). ‘the effects of quality improvement practices on team effectiveness: a mediational model’. Journal of Organizational Behavior. 2002; 23:533–553 Malat J. (2001). ‘Social distance and patient's ratings of health care providers’. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 2001, 42:360-72 Morey, J., R. Simon, D. Jay, L. Wears, M., Dukes, K., Berns, S. (2002). "Error Reduction and Performance Improvement in the Emergency Department through Formal Teamwork Training: Evaluation Results of the MedTeams Project." Health Services Research 37(6): 1553-81 Pronovost, P., S. Berenholtz, T. Dorman, P.A. Lipsett, T. Simmonds and C. Haraden. (2003). "Improving Communication in the ICU Using Daily Goals." Journal of Critical Care 18(2): 71-75 Robbins C., Bradley E., Spicer M. (2001). ‘Developing leadership in health care administration: a competency assessment tool’. Journal of Healthcare Management. 2001; 46:188–202 Sicotte C, Pineault R, Lambert J. (1993). ‘Medical interdependence as a determinant of use of clinical resources’. Health Services Research. 1993; 28:599–609 Sandra G. (2007). ‘Effective healthcare teams require effective team members: defining teamwork competencies’. BMC Health Serv Res. 2007; 7: 17. Volpe, C., Cannon, E, Spector, P. (1996). "The Impact of Cross-training on Team Functioning: An Empirical Investigation." Human Factors 38(1): 87-100 West M., Borrill, C., Dawson J., Scully, J., Carter, M., Anelay, S., Patterson, M., Waring, J. (2002). ‘The link between the management of employees and patient mortality in acute hospitals’. International Journal of Human Resource Management. 2002; 13:1299–1310 Wenzel FJ, Grady R, Freedman TJ. (1995). ‘Competencies for health management practice: a practitioner's perspective’. J Health Adm Educ. 1995 Fall; 13(4):611-30. Wallick G., Stager J. (2001). ‘Healthcare managers' roles, competencies and outputs in organizational performance improvement/practitioner response’. Journal of Healthcare Management. 2001; 47:390–402 Weiner B., Shortell S., Alexander J. (1997). ‘Promoting clinical involvement in hospital quality improvement efforts: the effects of top management, board and physician leadership’. Health Services Research. 1997; 32:491–510 Zurn P, Dal Poz MR, Stilwell B, Adams O. (2004) ‘Imbalance in the health workforc’e. Human Resources for Health. 2004; 2:13 Read More