Action Plan in Dealing with Health Care System - Coursework Example

Action plan in dealing with health care system al affiliation) Introduction Measurement of performance in health careis not a new thing. Florence Nightingale collected infection rates and mortality data which was controversial to be used by the principal hospitals during the Crimean war in England. Ernest Amory Codman a graduated Doctor in the 19th century made a systematic lifelong attempt to follow up patients he had treated and keep records of the end results about their care. Among the records kept was the treatment and diagnostic errors and he associated it with the end results in order to make necessary improvements (Allan & Hall, 2012). However, he was not pleased with the end results after evaluation of the Massachusetts General Hospital care and this made him to resign and opted to start his privately owned hospital which he called the End Result Hospital. Codman admitted his mistakes in public and he went ahead to publish them in the hospitals annual report in order for patients to assess for themselves the outcome and quality of the care. He produced copies of his annual reports to the hospital and sent them out throughout USA compelling them to do the same. The paper will discuss various anomalies in the care provision; propose causes and the action taken to deal with future challenges. Anomalies in the health care system Managing organizational change was produced by Queensland health in 1998. The document was meant to advice managers on how to manage and plan change. The challenge that faces most people and institutions is their reaction to the change process when it is implemented. One of the challenges that face Queensland health is to develop the willingness and the flexibility to be responsive to the changing environment, to the changing treatments and the changing technology. The health system in the region has to adapt to the various changes in technology and treatment in order to deal with the challenges that face the health care system (Siviter, 2011). Queensland has been at the forefront at creating an health surroundings in which the staffs identify with being part of the team that works jointly at all levels to effectively direct change and to extend and take possession of new approaches. Such can only take place if managers appreciate how to ease and anticipate the emotional turmoil that people encounter during change and to ensure that the standard continued secure employment is paramount for Queensland Health employees. Where there is possibility for an employment contract variation between an individual and Queensland Health employee for instance, it calls for appropriate processes in place whose focal point is the need for an open and constant communication with employees and their representatives (Bedford & Lalor, 2011). This channel, supporting employees through organizational change indulges majorly with peoples or emotional issues that are crucial to the successful accomplishment of change where individuals are called upon to make a transition from old to new. The guide offers a clear indicator of what to expect from individuals and outlines preferred processes for supporting them though change. All changes even the ones that people are willing to advocate often entails losing something such as the comfortable and old ways of tacking issues, loss of competence and power as well as relationship. It is never easier to accept change process and therefore, it is the mandate of the care agents to ensure that the staffs are taken through the emotional process in order to initiate the change process (Bismark & tuddert, 2013). People are unable to perceive the change process as a positive entity when they fear danger, face too much uncertainty and doubt the opportunity presented to them. Changes in the health care system will be accompanied with movement through various stages in adjusting to the changes in the system. Another anomaly that affects the health care system is the failure to utilize the feedback of the patient as a driver of quality improvement. Studies have indicated that few people actively utilize the information of the patient in improving the safety and the quality of the care services provided whilst many collect feedback about the experience of the patient towards health care provided. Patients surveys have highlighted numerous area of improvement that include team work by staffs, communication with the health care professional, involvement of the patient and the family as well as responsiveness by the staffs. From research about adverse and incident event, poor performance in utilization of patient’s feedback in improving the health of the individuals may contribute to the health care errors (Buchan & Dunbar, 2012). The feedbacks from the patient can offer another early warning targeting safety issues. The feedbacks of the patients is also a positive predictor for significant safety issues such as medical staffs taking part in hand washing campaigns as well as infection prevention strategies. Improving the experience of the patient improves the employee retention rates and increases employee satisfaction. Good clinical quality and good patient experience goes hand in hand. Many studies have shown that those hospitals that utilize patients feedbacks in improving the quality of care often does well on clinical trials. A strong association between technical measures of safety and quality and patient experience was reported by Isaac et al in a study that was conducted in 927 US hospitals and included improved patient experiences that was related to reduced infections related to medical care. A systematic review highlighted positive association between patient experience and self-reported, resource utilization and clinical outcome. Possible cause and solutions Many quality managers have failed to collect and utilize the feedbacks from the patients in improving the health care system. The quality managers at the health service should consider how the health institution can obtain the feedback of the patient based on the experience of care targeting the patient and utilize it to improve the quality of health care services targeting the patient. The health managers should be emerging in trends observed in the incident reporting system and patient feedback data (Chatfield, 2009). The manager and the patient experience officer should be able to work together to expand methods of collecting the patient’s feedback through utilization of various approaches that includes patient focus groups, patient complaint data, targeted patient surveys, anonymous shoppers, patient stories told by patients and patient diaries for the inpatient. Collection of data from the patient will be critical to the quality manager as it will enable them to utilize the patient experience data as part of the early warning system. Most changes implemented in the health care system have failed due to lack of effective initiatives by the change agents. In order to manage health care system in Queensland health care managers and providers are called upon to coordinate health care services in a transparent manner and be responsible for finances allocated for the provision of these services. It is crucial to line up the care resources and needs of a community to make sure that health services continue to be open to the requirements of the health care of the communities. Undoubtedly, changes will require to be made over a period to the range of services offered by the health care and the way they are delivered (Palatnik, 2011). The basis underlying decision making concerning changes should be based on a methodology keeping in mind the most appropriate available evidence. Change agents in the health care system can plan to consult and should involve the staffs in ensuring that the change process is made early. This does not mean seeking their professional and technical support but rather allows for consideration of what the change process may mean to the staffs involved. In order to strive and develop a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement that can optimize participation by stakeholders and staffs through establishing a formal consultative framework since the commencement of the change process. People should be made to understand the reason for conducting a certain change and why the change will contribute to the change process. For the change process to be successful in the health care system, the following should be done; effective negotiation of the role taken by sponsors, defining the sponsors role, seeing critical sensitive success factor and acquiring sign off on agreement to assist the project (Happell et al,2015). Secondly, identifying the strategic linkages by articulating and assessing how the process of change fit in the direction and broader goals of the department. Reviewing the projects strategic outcome and identifying the targets and goals of the project. Make a clear assessment of what and when to achieve it. This should entail what to accomplish in terms of such things as motivation, morale and commitment. Make an agreement about this with the sponsor. The core parts of the projects should be clearly identified clearly to help deal with the change process in the health care set ups. Queensland health managers are responsible for making necessary changes for the revision and development of the organization in line with the needs of the community, changing models of care and continuous improvement. This responsibility is predominantly cute when change is followed by a need to vary functions and roles of members of the workforce. The functions, roles and work practices need to be regularly reviewed in the organization as new treatments and technology development and new working ways are explored. Despite the obvious issues of the industry which can come up during such processes, Queensland Health cannot think of going back from these changes (Launch of Health Online: A Health Information Action Plan for Australia, second edition, 2010). With health care costs ever appreciating those managers that are accountable must look for the most proficient means of rendering high standard services to the public. Proposed changes in working environment responsibilities and roles can create a degree of anxiety among employees. The principle concern that affects the issue of change in the health institution is job security. Other issues includes ability, skills to function in new roles or with various line may affect the process of change in the health sector. Change process in the health sector often brings a lot of uncertainty among the health care providers including the managers of health and the employees. Such challenges can only be solved by having effective communication process between the employees and the management while at the same time showing concern and fairness among them. In addition, communicating to the health practitioners is effective in dealing with the issue of change. Queensland should be committed to ensure that change is effected in the right manner and that the employees are not affected by the change process in the place of work. Managers should be able to deal with changes in the health environment through ensuring the employers are able to understand the need for change and how to deal with issues that are related to change. Change agents should be able to familiarize themselves with the emotional responses that are related to the change process. Such change processes includes shock, retreat, reaction, acceptance, exploration and change (Newlin, 2010). Getting to know of the various challenges that affect the change process is effective in setting up strategies that will help deal with the process. The change agents should be able to observe that procedures, policies and priorities are consistent with the changes that are invoked. One of the most important actions to take in order to allow the change process to be effective is be ensuring that the people who will be affected by the change process are given an opportunity to participate in the change process. People may fail to cooperate in initiating the change process if they are not supported, informed or involved in the change process. There is always an added advantage of maximizing the skills and ideas of the people if they are involved and informed at the operational level. In so down, the change process will conducted more effectively. Action taken to deal with health system challenges In order for the health care system to embrace change among the health care provider, the following should be done to deal with the issue; the staffs and the management should maintain a consistent and constant communication, consultation and collaboration. Constant communication between the management and the staff will be effective in ensuring that change process is well managed and that the process may not result to uncertainty. People often find is a challenge to accept change and therefore the health sector should be able to utilize consultation and collaborations. The change should be supported by the district executive and district manager. Change cannot be implemented effectively without support by relevant authority. The third action plan is about facilitation of joint decision making process between the consumers of health service and health care providers. The facilitation will enable the relevant authorities to come up with significant ideas that will aid in understanding of the change process and how it can be implemented effectively. Efficient decision making process can be done when the consumers and the health care providers work together (Marshall, 2013). The decisions made should be aligned with the local policy and state of the national directive. Aligning the change objectives with the local policy will help prevent misunderstanding and making the process to be successful. Collaboration of the health sector with other relevant authorities such as non-governmental organization and other departments in the government can be able to offer support for the process to be successful. Additionally, quality framework can ensure continuous clinical improvement in areas that have not been improved. The action entails providing a comprehensive defined and diverse range of clinical services that are delivered to meet the needs of the community members. The episode of care extends across community and acute continuum (MEREDITH & WOOD, 2012). Change process in the health sector can be conducted through various steps that include defining the problems, developing a community strategy, project plan and implementation and lastly evaluation should be done to identify whether the change process was effective in the community. Conclusion Having an effective action plan in place to help deal with challenges facing the health care system is unquestionable. The health care system has to put in place various changes to help improve the safety and the quality of the services that have been provided. Better health care outcome should be advocated by all change agents to ensure that the health care providers are well suited to implement health care changes and actions that will be significant in enhancing effective health care system (Duguid & Cruickshank, 2012). The relationship between the patients and staffs should be boosted and the patients’ feedback should be utilized as a strategy of improving the health status by ensuring that health care system is able to meet the needs of the patients. Initiating change in the health care system is a process and the change agent should ensure effective steps are taken. Individuals that are affected by change process should be allowed to participate in the process if it has to be successful. Reference Allan, J., & Hall, B. (2012). Challenging the focus on technology: A critique of the medical model in a changing health care system. Advances In Nursing Science, 10(3), 22-34. doi:10.1097/00012272-198804000-00004 Bedford, G., & Lalor, D. 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