SWOT Analysis of Federal Registry Department of Health and Human Services - Case Study Example

The impact analysis helps them to find out the problems that may arise in the future. By doing this, they can implement methods that would help them to tackle unexpected problems.   

The Department of Health and Human Services has proposed a Medicare Program which includes a rehabilitation facility for the patients and has introduced a payment system. The SWOT analysis of the Medicare program reveals the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.  

Strengths

• Modes of Communication: The Medicare Program permits the patients to register their feedback via e-mail, mail, courier or they can even submit it directly to the concerned department.
• Rehabilitation Facility: The rehabilitation facility provided to the inpatients enables them to recover completely, without having the need to pay huge amounts to exclusive rehabilitation centers.
• Prospective Payment System: This system includes the rehabilitation charges and takes care of the cost of inpatient treatments.  (Federal Register, 2011).
• History: The Department of Health and Human Services has been conducting Medicare programs. Many people have been benefited from these medical programs and services.  
• Insurance: The patient can claim the insurance even after he gets discharged and this is made possible after the Insurance Portability Act came into existence in 1996.
• Response: Whenever a comment or feedback is received from a patient through Federal Register, an acknowledgment is sent to the concerned patient.
• Transition: For each modification or change in the reporting system, a common transition method is implemented to incorporate the recent changes. This eradicates the need to design a new application every now and then.  
• Market Basket Concept: This concept helps the department to calculate the total cost based on the categories like employee wages, medicines, equipment, and other common costs. By comparing it with the previous years, the department can ascertain the difference and propose a new price with the help of price proxies.
• Psychiatric Units: The inclusion of psychiatric units have been appreciated and well-received. Other medical service providers do not concentrate much on psychiatric units. Centers for Medicaid Services gained more recognition due to this factor.

Weaknesses

• Lack of Co-ordination: The IRF of the inpatients and outpatients is not coordinated.
• Quality Reporting System: Patients are not permitted to place a report with this system.
• Policies: The numbers of policies are relatively more which in turn leaves the patients in a confused state.   

Opportunities

• Developments in Medicare Programs: New ideologies like calculating FY payments regularly and including them in the budget is certainly an opportunity, as it would enable the increase of the number of patients. (Dealtry, 1992). 
• IRF: The facility level of IRF is updated regularly and this ensures that more patients are benefited.
• Service: Improvement in IRF has helped the registry to provide more financial help to the people who cannot afford medical treatments.
• Fewer Competitors: There are only a very few organizations that provide reporting facilities and proposed payment systems. This is certainly an advantage, as more people tend to opt for the Medicare program provided by this department.

Threats

• Reporting systems may not be useful for patients who know less about the quality reporting system. (Bohm, 2008).
• Reporting program follows a timeline within which the patient must submit his report. Since the timeline is too short, the patients feel these reporting systems do not provide them with what they expect.
• A new system leads to more confusion, as the people might not be aware of the changes in the system.
• The chaos and confusion eventually affect the reputation of the medical programs and services. 

Conclusion

          The SWOT analysis describes the positive as well as the negative aspects of an organization. It also specifies how well an organization can improve and perform if it reduces its weaknesses and works to improve its strengths. Impact analysis, another commonly used technique, analyzes the problems and issues that might occur in the future. While applying this technique to the Federal Registry, one can point out the negative effects that the recent changes or the new systems might bring about. The implementation of the new IRF and PPS system might complicate the existing scenario, as the inpatient rehabilitation depends on the policies the patient acquires. The quality reporting systems for the inpatient and outpatient might turn out to be a tedious one since the Registry authorities should regularly check them in order to analyze the reports. Apart from all these negative aspects, the quality reporting systems will certainly enhance the facilities provided by the hospital authorities, as the quality reporting system stores information pertaining to the nursing facilities and other services provided by Medicare.