The Core Objective of Pocahontas Memorial Hospital - Essay Example

Portfolio Part Outline Introduction The core objective of Pocahontas Memorial Hospital is to provide proper health care to the people of Pocahontas. This section of the paper intends to evaluate about the challenges faced by the healthcare in providing quality care to the people of the said community. It is notified that although the population of the county as per the 2010 census was 9131 and the average income of the people was US$26, 401, yet the county faces issues regarding health care. The health care professionals are seen to be reluctant to provide their services in Pocahontas. The paper intends to elaborate the positive as well as negative aspects associated with health care services delivered by Pocahontas Memorial Hospital. In addition, the paper will determine the mission and vision in integration with the present day (Pocahontas Memorial Hospital, 2014). Assessment The Pocahontas Memorial Hospital is facing several issues regarding the need of the health care amid the people. This section assesses the need for more satellite clinics as the majority of the population is above the mid age. A proper market analysis is done in order to get a proper understanding regarding the need of the people and the hospital. From the assessment of the market, it is observed that the county requires more professionals in order to meet its mission of providing enhanced health care services to the community at large. The SWOT analysis is vital to identify the areas such as opportunities, threats so that the challenging situation faced by the county is proactively dealt. One of the major strengths is that the hospital is the only healthcare centre providing treatments to the people with various emergency services. However, the weaknesses in this regard can be related to lack of expertise professionals to meet the growing needs of the people. The issue in this paper is that as compared to the population, the number of healthcare professionals is less in number. Hence, during a crisis or an emergency the hospital is unable to provide the expected level of care to the people (Pocahontas Memorial Hospital, 2014). Recommendation On the basis of the assessment of the market, it is observed that the hospitals need to improve its health care services in various sections. It is recommended that the hospitals and the people of Pocahontas should devise their policies and provide better packages to attract health care professionals. The economy of the county is moderate and hence the hospitals can use this aspect for the enhancement of the services. Therefore, it can also be recommended that the hospital will need to increase number of beds and enhance its setup. Conclusion This section provides a clear picture regarding the challenges faced and the solution stated with respect to the Pocahontas Memorial Hospital. This section is a complete overview regarding the aspect of assessment and analysis conducted to support the people by providing quality healthcare and amenities. It can be comprehended that the need for satellite clinic in the county is more as the need for medical assistance is greater amid the middle age people Part 2 Introduction The Pocahontas Memorial Hospital exhibits its long term commitment towards the welfare of the people of the community. The health care organization works for the welfare of the people and provide utmost priority to the well-being of the community. It is evident from the history of the hospital that it has maintained quality while providing care to the people of the society. The hospital offers emergency services to the people of Pocahontas. It can be stated from the performance of the hospital that it is trying to bring quality care and standard of living closer to the people (2Pocahontas Memorial Hospital, 2014). The reason being, population is unable to get the required support from the healthcare due to the lack of the professionals. It is evident from the census report that the population of the county is high with a large portion of people being of mid age or above. In this respect, to enhance the care, the hospital is involved in targeting the older population wherein they can use the satellite clinic, which is to provide proper care to the people. Although, the hospital is trying to serve the people within the small setup, but is not being able to provide the best healthcare support (Gamm et al., 2010). Assessment It is assessed that the hospital is unable to provide emergency services to the people as per the requirement due to the social and economic factor of the county. To provide quality care with effectiveness was the basic objective of the hospital in the initial years, which they were now failing to gain. The reason assessed for such scenario is the lack of adequate number of health care professionals as compared to the total population in the county. Poor health and lack of treatment was increasing due to the lack of proper transportation. The access to the healthcare for the people was getting restricted due to non-availability of ‘non-emergency medical transportation’ facility (Sinha & Kohnke, 2009). These aspects were creating a barrier for the hospital to enhance its services and further development. Another reason that can be seen to affect the hospital in attaining its objective and mission of quality services with excellence are due to the lack knowledge amid the people regarding their health. The social factor of the county is creating challenges for the hospital to provide proper benefit to people. Lack of education and unemployment is another reason that is creating a barrier for proper health services (Gamm et al., 2010). On the other hand, another important aspect is the physical environment. It is observed that a clean and safe environment helps in providing better health care services. Therefore, from the assessment it is comprehended that due to the unavailability of professionals, transportation barrier and many more, the ability of the hospital to expand is getting limited. However, various new developments were being made by the Pocahontas Memorial Hospital for the progress, but due to the lack of technical experts the advancement was unable to provide the expected result. To reduce such issues of emergency services, the Pocahontas Memorial Hospital intends to implement tee satellite clinics (Sinha & Kohnke, 2009; Primary Health Care, Inc., 2003). Satellite clinic is one of the development projects of the hospital in order to provide care and safeguard the community, with a specific focus towards the older population. The major strength of this clinic is that it provides quality care to patients. These clinics will help the people who are unable to come to the healthcare settings due to transportation issues. This will help the hospital project to expand and provide quality services. In addition, this clinic will include various health related component where people having health problem will be identified and specific health treatment will be referred to them (Rosenheck, 2000). Weakness in this regard is the lack of finances as the Pocahontas Memorial Hospital is the only clinic, but in order to reach every individual it requires more establishments. Moreover, services in this clinic will be generally provided by trained nurses while the absence of specialists may reduce the effectiveness of this clinic to meet the health care requirements of patients with acute illness (Moiduddin & Stromberg, 2009). The opportunity of the Pocahontas Memorial Hospital to progress is high due to the unavailability of any other healthcare setting for the people in the county. Development of the clinic will minimize the health issue and help in imparting knowledge regarding healthy lifestyle (2Pocahontas Memorial Hospital, 2014). At the same time, incidence of diseases in rural areas is increasing and the current environmental conditions are also seen to affect the health of population residing in rural areas. Thus, in order to ensure that the rural population is also provided quality care, it is essential to set up satellite clinic. This would facilitate in addressing the unmet health care needs of the people in rural areas (Shea et al., 2011). However, the threat is the lack of fund and professions in the health care due to the slow moving economy of the county. The lack of resources is one of the major threats that will resist the hospital from realizing its mission of community welfare. Language and culture barriers along with geographic landscape such as rivers and mountain ranges may effectiveness of this clinic to deliver quality care to rural population. In addition, travel time can also be considered as major factor reducing the effectiveness of this clinic (Shea et al., 2011). Recommendation After analyzing the environment, market and other aspects, it can be recommended that for the hospital to develop and provide quality services the healthcare needs to attract professionals. As mentioned above, the physician-to-population ratio in the county is high and therefore the Pocahontas Memorial Hospital needs to attract more healthcare experts for better access. In order to attract the professionals, the hospital will provide health benefits and allowances to the professionals so that the increasing number of professionals is availed for ensuring quality service in the county. The government can take initiative to provide better education to the people so that they understand the importance of a healthy life (Tan & Payton, 2010). The environmental factor, socio factor pulls back the hospital from performing its activities. Therefore, the hospital can devise policies in coordination with the government to get better access. This will help the Pocahontas Memorial Hospital to fulfill its objectives, which includes quality services with efficiency. The hospital as a part of the strategy can increase their services by educating people through programs (Tan & Payton, 2010; Nicol & Coen, n.d.). This will provide an opportunity for the hospital to develop and increase its range in the county of Pocahontas for the community at large. Conclusion From the above analysis, it can be stated that the Pocahontas Memorial Hospital is taking initiatives to fulfill the needs of the customer through providing proper medical supports and emergency services. The challenges that are being faced by the hospital are primarily related to the lack of resources such as professionals. The satellite clinic initiative is vital for the people, but due to the wide location of Pocahontas the hospital is facing challenges to provide proper assistance. However, with the help of strategic policies and initiatives, the hospital will be able to mitigate the challenges and provide quality healthcare to every individual with ease. Therefore, it can be ascertained from the analysis that the hospital will be able to develop its project and achieve its mission of healthcare excellence. References Gamm, L., Castillo, G., & Pittman, S. (2010). Access to quality healthcare services in rural areas-primary care: A literature review. Access to Quality Health Services in Rural Areas, 17-36. Moiduddin, A., & Stromberg, S. (2009). Health information technology in California’s rural practices: assessing the benefits and barriers. California Healthcare Foundation, 1-21. Nicol, D., & Coen, M. (n.d.). Getting from here to there. Strategies for change, 103-115. Pocahontas Memorial Hospital. (2014). Our core values. Retrieved from http://pmhwv.org/core-values/ 2Pocahontas Memorial Hospital. (2014). Home - Pocahontas Memorial Hospital. Retrieved from http://pmhwv.org/ Primary Health Care, Inc. (2003). Performance improvement plan. Retrieved from: http://bphc.hrsa.gov/technicalassistance/resourcecenter/services/sampleperformanceimprovementplanprimaryhealthcareinc.pdf Rosenheck, R. (2000). Primary care satellite clinics and improved access to general and mental health services. HSR: Health Services Research 35(4), 778-790. Shea, J., Byrnes, P., & Hirschfeld, J. (2011). So you want to start a health center. National Association of Community Health Centers, 2-78. Sinha, K. K., & Kohnke, E. J. (2009). Health care supply chain design: toward linking the development and delivery of care globally. Decision Sciences, 40(2), 197-212. Tan, J. & Payton, F. (2010). Adaptive health management information systems. Jones and Bartlett. Appendix Market Analysis Cost Leadership Broad mass markets Differentiation Lower price sensitivity of customers Cost Focus Low-cost competitive strategy Differentiation Focus Market segment SWOT Matrix Strengths Weaknesses Quality care to patients Help the people who are unable to come to the healthcare settings due to transportation issues Include various health related component Specific health treatment will be referred Lack of finances Absence of specialists Opportunities Threats Incidence of diseases in rural areas is increasing Imparting knowledge regarding healthy lifestyle Addressing the unmet health care needs Slow moving economy Lack of resources Language and culture barriers Geographic landscape Read More