Roles of Health Care Executives in Change of Organizational Ownership - Term Paper Example

Abstract

Organizations tend to experience change due to the adoption of new structures, policies, and strategies to boost business performance. The differences can arise from; closure of the business process, mergers, and acquisitions, consolidation, affiliations and divestitures. Each type of change in healthcare has different reactions from the personnel and the local community. The Health Service Organization (HSOs) and Health Services (HSs) use Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) in the improvement of healthcare quality. They seek to improve processes to meet or surpass health population expectations. Professional Staff Organization (PSO) consists of managing directors and other medical staff. A healthcare facility is supposed to check on the health status of the population and incorporate ethical standards and principles. Healthcare facilities are also tasked with providing quality “healthcare” and health services to the individuals under HSOs/HSs. Senior level managers also play an integral role with system structures and approaches. Senior level managers also play an integral role with system structures and approaches.

Roles of Health Care Executives in Change of Organizational Ownership

Statement of the issue

Organizations experience change that arises from the adoption of new rules, plans, and approaches to improve business performance. The changes may emanate from; closure of the business process, mergers, acquisitions, affiliations, and consolidation. Each mode of change in healthcare causes different outcomes. Healthcare executives should analyze challenges and advantages involved and establish the appropriate strategies for implementing changes to support attainment of organizational goals through methods that would not compromise the quality and cost of healthcare services (American Hospital Association, 2012). The assessment should be comprised of negative and positive effects of a change in the health status of the population and the potential impacts on stakeholders.

Key Considerations for Potential Change in Ownership

The directors, physicians, and executives experience a challenge of leadership when there is any potential change in ownership or control of a hospital. It is also challenging to harmonize community needs and shareholders' needs while maintaining the provision of efficient healthcare services and employee morale (The American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), 2017). Healthcare executives and directors need to make the following primary considerations before any change of ownership. First, there is a need to establish criteria which will be used in the evaluation of proposals regarding the control of ownership. Secondly, the executives need to consider whether the transaction to be processed will still be able to fulfill the hospital mission after the change of ownership. Thirdly, a study needs to be conducted to ascertain the perspectives of the health population. The study will aim to assess the options of change which are available in the community and organization. The benefits and risks should be specified together with their impact on the health population. Lastly, there should be clarity on any legal constraints in the organization’s charter or certificate of incorporation which may hinder the proposal (American Hospital Association, 2012).

Principles for Changes in Ownership

Principles of change in ownership involve governance, human resources and clinical implications that should be used to predict and minimize the challenges encountered by hospitals and health system leaders. These guidelines enable executives to understand what to expect and how they can manage their change when the organization changes its control (Steenkamer, Drewes, Heijink, Baan, & Struijs, 2017). One of these principles is to ensure full engagement of the health population and to identify their future needs in health improvement. This can be achieved through multiple sources such as a questionnaire, direct observations, interviews as well as data collection and analysis. There should be a plan in the provision of care to those who are under-served and a plan to ensure the continuation of the other health services. The goals and values of the organization should be considered before executing change. These goals are the achievements that an organization would like to attain when providing healthcare (ACHE, 2017). Measures like the disadvantages of change in ownership should be evaluated before examination of the proposals. Lastly, financial incentives such as bonuses, compensations are supposed to be identified which may influence the views of trustees and executives. There should be a disclosure of all conflicts of interest or any other future or current benefits for the executives who may be related to the transaction (Steenkamer, Drewes, Heijink, Baan, & Struijs, 2017).

The conflict of interest is resolved by ensuring that all executives and board members sign a conflict of interest statement. Healthcare agencies have to develop clear policies to guide conflict of interest, and all executives should be trained to support it (Longest and Darr, 2014). The policies should be created based on relevant regulations, the input of governance, medical boards, and stakeholders to ensure an equitable and fair process for all personnel.

Roles of CEOs and other senior-level managers’ organizational ownership

CEOs and senior level managers are mandated to ensure affordable and quality healthcare services to patients that seek medical attention. Senior-level managers are also responsible for safety of patients and ensuring that the clinical staff delivers the health services within HS0s.

There are specific roles intended for CEOs and other senior-level managers in HSOs/HSs during a change in organizational ownership and control. Senior level managers play an integral role with system structures and approaches. They enhance communication efficacy in the organization (Parand, Dopson, Renz, & Vincent, 2014). They are tasked with goal level creation, which means ensuring that employees are aware about the values and and goals of the organization. This can be though influencing the employees’ morale, which entices them to act in a specific manner. Additionally, different cultures and behavior can undermine the organization. This arises form conflicting perspective sand resistance among employees (Parand, Dopson, Renz, & Vincent, 2014). The change types and structures in health organizations are also influenced by environmental pressures. This can arise form stakeholders and the community.

The Health Service Organization (HSOs) and Health Services (HSs) use Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) in the improvement of healthcare quality. Their primary focus is to improve the processes to meet or surpass health population expectations. CQI decrease costs by the reduction of poor quality work regarding waste while enhancing productivity by using superior resources. It is the responsibility of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and senior-level managers to make sure that a patient receives quality care. The CEO is selected by the board to carry out HSOs operations and accomplish strategic healthcare objectives set by the health organization (Longest and Darr, 2014). The CEO selects the senior management personnel. These positions entail ensuring cost reduction since HSOs/HSs require financial sustainability and integrated delivery systems. Secondly, the needs of the clientele, patient population and health population have to be taken into account as their expectations must be met. The consumers make decisions based on purchase value which applies to healthcare sector. HSOs/HSs has led to better and quality health services because of the inducement of CQI which leads to a higher number of people seeking healthcare (Longest and Darr, 2014).

Roles of GBs and PSOs

The governing boards (GB's) have the responsibility to select and monitor how the CEO of HSO performs. The GB establishes the criteria for CEO selection, search methods to be employed and reviews mechanisms for applicants (Longest and Darr, 2014). The GB is responsible for establishing performance criteria to be used in evaluating the CEO. Next, GB fulfills the legal duty by approval of financial goals within HSO, monitoring of the management in the achievement of those goals and establishment of financial policies and adherence to set policies. GB's are also responsible for the coordination of their activities which includes the appointment of a chairperson who supervises their activities, determines the size of GB and establishing their members to various committees. Moreover, it assists CEO with management which is effectively creating and maintaining a relationship with the stakeholders to the HSO. CEOs alongside GB solve external issues which apply to HSO operations and their strategic focus(The American College of Healthcare Executives, 2017). Finally, CEO delegates responsibilities to senior-level managers in respect to the daily activities like tasks for personnel and program support staff on the middle and lower levels of the hierarchy. in the lower level. The chart below shows some of the responsibilities of GB (Healthcare Administration, n.d).

Professional staff organization

Professional Staff Organization (PSO) mainly consists of managing directors and other medical staffs that are credentialed based on education and work with HSO in the provision of health services. PSO’s actively establishes and monitors the credentials of all its members. These credentials involve the category of membership HSO and the assessment of practice privileges in the competence of a member (Hibbard, Greene, Sacks, Overton & Parrotta, 2017). The final approval of recommendations to the PSO regarding credentials is the work of PSO executive committee.

Importance of governance competence skills in senior level managers

The governance involves three sets of issues; governance of whole HS, governing the parts of HSOs and managing the issues that arise between the two level of governance (Longest and Darr, 2014). Managers to be fully aware of the governance skills due to complex HS organization in governance (Parand, Dopson, Renz, & Vincent, 2014). This is vital since it supports continuity of care and responsibility of all health determinants.

In freestanding HSOs, the governance control issues tend to be more straightforward while same issues are complicated in HS. Despite the governing of HSOs/HS involving the three set of issues, handling them require different approaches due to differences in their complexities. Consequently, it will require a person with full conceptual knowledge and understanding to govern them while fostering a culture and meeting the mission and vision during a change in organizational ownership. Governance competence is also linked to a professional code of ethics which applies to doctors and executives (Hibbard, Greene, Sacks, Overton & Parrotta, 2017). The code of ethics that guide professional relationships with patients, colleagues, community, and society are influenced by ethical behavior. This is an integral component of health management. It also applies in resolving any issues that arise in the workplace and incorporating appropriate ethical principles and agency policies. Doctors/executives have to be keen on exuding ethical standards.

The chart below shows a sampling of various administration levels in healthcare organization (Healthcare Administration, n.d)

From the News: Effective CEO Performance situation change in British Airways

British Airways (BA), a flag carrier in the United Kingdom, is the most significant airline based on fleet size, international flights, and destinations. In 2008 British Airways was displaced by its low-cost rival EasyJet (Rothenberg & Randall, 1989). Under the new leadership by CEO, Willie Walsh, British Airways and Iberia Airlines agreed to form a merger. This was a large scale decision for BA considering it was much bigger than Iberia Airlines. The airline was expected to save 400m Euros in a year (BBC, 2010). Contrarily, British Airways and Iberia were to continue operating as normal. Due to the combined network, Willie Walsh, British Airways CEO, considered the merger an exciting transition for customers. The merger allowed the company to be huge and also to compete effectively with other giant Airlines. The merger served as an opportunity to reduce costs especially after it sustained tough times and heavy losses in previous years (BBC, 2010).

Why the performance was effective

The merger was effective because both companies were international Airline's couriers with large assets which increase their economies of scales. Considering the fact that British Airways was already the largest airline in UK people were already aware of the company thus improvement of these services and expansion of their flights brought their clients back. Through the merger, both the British Airways and Iberia Airlines attained efficiency in operations and competitive advantage compared to other independent company in the industry (BBC, 2010). Both companies had workers who were willing to participate and to continue with their work even after the companies had merged.

Conclusion

Healthcare is a linkage of units consisting of governance, executives, senior level managers and medical providers. Executives and senior managers directly affect the outcome measures and results of the health organization. Healthcare organizations must provide quality care to the people under HSOs/HSs. Furthermore, CEOs and executives need to make sure that they are prepared for change especially in today’s complex health systems. CEO’s need to respond to health population needs and deliver better health services to the patients. In addition, the senior-level managers are required to ensure that their team members are supervised, and their work is done accordingly. The PSOs are responsible for verifying that the credentials of their medical staff members are well monitored. Before any merger or change of ownership, executives must consider all the outcomes. Ethical considerations need to be accounted and the needs of the employees must be safeguarded. Executives and senior level managers have to ensure that the needs of the patients and stakeholders are a priority at all times.