Healthcare Executive - Essay Example

? Healthcare Executive Case Study Lecturer Role of Healthcare Executive in the change of organizational control or ownership Introduction Healthcare organizations are known for implementing changes in order to provide quality services. The aim of any healthcare institution is to preserve the life of the patients and ensure quality is in place in relation to all the services. In case it requires change in ownership or control to assure quality, then the healthcare executive should not hesitate to offer this option. This change in control or ownership can take various forms such as mergers, consolidations, affiliations, closures, acquisitions, and divestitures. Each of these types of change poses a special challenge to the healthcare executives. Such changes can have an impact on the access to quality and cost effective health care services by the community in generally, in addition to the potential impacts that the change has on the local economy and the staff of the organization in general (Hamilton, 2010). This paper therefore seeks to address the statement of issue in the question; roles of the Healthcare Executive in change of control or ownership of the organization in such forms as: mergers, consolidations, affiliations, closures, acquisitions, and divestitures. As Healthcare executives, one plays several duties in the change of ownership or control of an organization. For instance, when a Healthcare Executive is considering a change in control or ownership through one of the forms; mergers, consolidations, affiliations, closures, acquisitions, and divestitures; he or she is charged with duties of identifying the mission, vision, goals and values of the organization before making any change so as to ensure the organization will still be able to accomplish its reasons for existence and establishment. In the process of considering change in control or ownership, a Healthcare Executive should clearly articulate the factors and reasons for making a consideration for a potential change. The Healthcare Executive identifies the anticipated risks, benefits and the desired outcomes of the change; he or she is also expected to come up with a defined criteria to be used in evaluating the proposals that relate to the change of control or ownership; The Healthcare Executive has a duty to understand the legal limitations of the certificate of incorporation of the organization, organizational charter, its articles of association, and any other legal document that may put a ceiling on other alternatives from being considered. Additionally, Healthcare Executive has a duty to conduct a feasible study for reasons of assessing several other options for change possibly available for the community and organization; in doing so, s/he is also expected to specify in particular the benefits and risks of each and every option considered as well as their consequences to the community, stakeholders, and the staff of the organization (Sarah, 2000). Change in ownership or control of an organization may be so radical and have adverse impacts on the community and the stakeholders in general. Therefore, the Healthcare Executive should engage the community widely in understanding and mastering of the rationale for making a consideration for change in control or ownership. This should be done as early as feasible. A consideration should also be made on the severity of the agreements for the selected employees and executives who are charged with the responsibility of assessing potential organizational and community impact of the suggested change in order to remove any self-interest and concerns that may relate to loss of income or position. The Healthcare Executive are therefore very key in the healthcare organizations as they oversee the execution of such changes and are charged with the responsibility of ensuring the decisions made are for the best interest of the organization and are not influenced by any kind of personal interest or gain (Stevens, 2008). When a Healthcare Executive is considering a specific proposal that is closely related to change of control or ownership of the organization, the Healthcare Executive is charged with the following roles: Establishing a multi-purpose team to assess and evaluate the proposal Undertaking evaluations systematically of the change options relating to the criteria of the organization for undertaking such change, he or she should also consider issues like financial, legal, governance, operational, clinical, and human resource implications, including the impact on the community and the compatibility of the culture of the organization and the culture of the considered potential partner. The Healthcare Executive identifies the financial incentives that probably may pose undue influence on the opinions and views given by the executives, board members, and other people who are involved in evaluating the proposals. S/he should also unveil all the existing real and perceived conflicts of interest, offers of future remunerations, future employment, and other related benefits of the transaction. The Healthcare Executive is also charged with the role of mastering all the terms and conditions of all the agreements of collateral and the transaction proposed. He or she should also come up with a team to coordinate and oversee the process of the final due diligence and ensure that the transaction is duly implemented. It is also the role of the Healthcare Executive to implement the developed communication phase plan that informs and involves all the constituents that regard the change rationale for the process of making decision that is undertaken, the rationale for ownership or control, and the rationale for any pending process of implementation. As part of assessing the proposal for change of ownership or control, the Healthcare Executive has a duty to inform and seek appropriate approvals from the state, federation, and other opinion leaders of the transaction terms in accordance with the specified requirements. The Healthcare Executive also obtains a valuation from an independent third party of assets that are being restructured or converted and sees to it that administration and control will be different from the healthcare organization that has been restructured, in case of a change in control or ownership situation that leads to creation of charitable trust or foundation (McGregor, 2005). Due to the change, some employees will obviously be impacted on either positively or negatively. Therefore, the Healthcare Executive should develop and implement fully a plan that gives provision for just and fair treatment for such employees. Comparable severance programs can also be offered so as to minimize the friction risk after the change in case of mergers because of the variants in treating employees. The Healthcare Executive should finally prohibit any kind of inducement or financial gain at personal level by the people who are involved in implementing or even evaluating the change system. Apart from the Healthcare Executive, their GBS and PSOs are also charged with various functions in the change of control or ownership of organization. Some of the roles that I think their GBS and PSOs should play include: Negotiating and liaising with the potential partners on behalf of the Healthcare Executive concerning the change in ownership or control Implementing directives and policies created by the Healthcare Executive within the organization Performing clerical functions involved in initiating the change and the whole transaction process Managing and coordinating the multi-functional teams formed by the Healthcare Executive to oversee the change process Managing employee grievances resulting from the change process and its impacts Working to see that value of the assets and quality of the organization’s services are maintained even as the change process continues on behalf of the Healthcare Executive Performing quality assurance functions on behalf of the Healthcare Executive Maintaining finances and setting the budgets likely to be used during the change process Help the Healthcare Executive in planning the strategic changes once the organizations changes its ownership or control Helps with coordination and governance of the whole organization Sitting on the teams and committees and report back to the Healthcare Executive on the progress of the teams regarding the change process It is very important for the senior level managers in HSOs to have governance competence whenever they are involved in the change process of the organizational control or ownership. This is due to the fact that health care governance has been at crossroads, and no one particularly understands how they should execute their duties to match the interest of the facility. The governance competence will help the senior managers in handling the system of delivery that will be transformed due to the change in the ownership or control of the organization. When control or ownership of an organization changes to form mergers, consolidations, affiliations, closures, acquisitions, or divestitures; the senior managers will need new competencies and skills to guide the newly formed organization towards success. The governance competence is hence important to team building, strategic planning, and change management (Jones, 2000). References Hamilton, E. (2010). Health care leadership. Journal of Health Care Management, 8(1), 123-146. Jones, F. (2000). Nursing care management. Journal of health care delivery, 5(4) 53-67. McGregor, M. (2005). The role of Healthcare Executives. Journal of home health care administration, 3(4) 29-37. Sarah, Q. (2000). Nursing models. Journal of Contemporary Nursing, 7(5), 211-245. Stevens, J. (2008). Nursing issues in leading and managing change. Journal of Contemporary Nursing, 7(2), 100-121. Read More