Health Management - How Departments and Work Units are Structured - Coursework Example

Abstract

A proper organization structure is a very significant element in health management. Organization structure refers to the manner in which an organization places jobs and people to facilitate performance of different tasks, enabling it to achieve its objectives (Aiken, 2002). In large organizations, it is important to come up with formal structures since there is a great need to make critical decisions concerning delegation of various responsibilities. There are always specific procedures that are followed in assigning different duties for particular tasks that determine the organizational structure of a particular organization. The workers’ tasks in an organization are usually defined by the activities they undertake, who they report to, or who reports to them (Aiken, 2002). This paper is a critical analysis of the organizational structure of an organization I work for. Firstly, it begins by defining the structure adopted at the organization, giving insight on its effectiveness and shortcomings. Also, it offers a recommendation on the effective coordination and design of tasks that facilitate improvement in communication and coordination issues.

Keywords: Organization structure, Coordination, Employees’ responsibilities.

Health Management

How Departments and Work Units are Structured

The organization I work for uses the traditional organization structure where it follows a hierarchical model, implying that power is organized in a vertical manner and flows upwards. In the organization, employees are positioned into various departments. The executive in this structure is always at the top, followed by the senior management, then different levels of managers, and the majority of the employees holding the low positions. The departments are organized according to their functions. Those holding higher positions in the organization exercise full control to their subordinates by giving direct instructions. Specialization is highly regarded in this framework where work is delegated to different individuals or departments with the required skills and specialization pertaining to specific tasks. Due to the common goals of the organization, there is high coordination of different sectors from the departmental level up to the executive where all the departments are controlled.

The success of the organization relies on the collaboration from one department to another. The collaboration is achieved by having a single supervisor who gives common instruction for various sectors to avoid conflict. A scalar principle is also significantly utilized where a chain of command is established from the top management downwards. In so doing, every employee and department adhere to their responsibilities and accomplishes the tasks assigned as they are always aware that they are being watched and expected to perform the assigned duties. Collaboration is also attained by placing various units of work or individuals under one management so as to have effective control. Finally, the use of standard procedures and methods throughout the organization makes it easier for departments to cooperate as most actions are always predictable.

Ways in Which the Organization Functions Smoothly and Effectively

One factor to consider in the traditional organization framework is how it effectively meets the clients’ needs (Hsu, 2008). For the organization I work for, smooth and efficient functioning is achieved through the ways the organization uses to group different tasks. The work activities are, therefore, departmentalized by geographic location, function, type of services offered, and the clients’ characteristics. Besides, delegation, simple accountability, and formalization of procedures play a critical role in smooth coordination in the organization.

Functional Departmentalization

The organization is structured into different work units according to specialization such that each department carries out a particular task. For instance, in the health care department, the primary functions include psychiatry, billing, housekeeping, surgery, and nursing. These functions are dedicated to and handled by specific units within the department. Such division of labor guarantees the organization high level of efficiency and encourages greater improvement in expertise (Hsu, 2008). This kind of work plan saves a lot of time since employees concentrate on particular tasks hence avoiding time wastage.

Formalization of Procedures

To make coordination and operation easier in the organization I work for, the responsibilities for every employee and group have been formalized within a standard control structure and command. By doing so, all the workers get to know their duties and responsibilities for the positions that they hold. Supervision, therefore, becomes less tedious. Besides, orientation for the new employees also becomes simple as they are only expected to perform the common tasks.

Delegation

Due to complexity and diversity of work at the organization, a delegation of tasks becomes very significant. Those in charge of the different departments cannot perform all the work that pertains to that section by themselves. To get all the tasks accomplished in the right and timely manner, assigning various tasks to different individuals becomes a critical aspect of the organization. Delegation is conducted according to skills of the employees where workers are assigned tasks that they can efficiently accomplish and achieve the best results.

Simple Accountability

Managing a team is always not an easy task as there is a great diversity of human resource and complexity of tasks. Therefore, accountability at every level of work is imperative if the organization has to achieve great performance. In the organization I work for, every employee at a different level is held accountable for the responsibilities and duties assigned to them. The employees have a clear understanding of the vertical hierarchy where individuals and groups report to those in higher positions. A lot of precision is, thus, highly observed and the employees are always expected to meet the required standards by their leaders.

Coordination and Communication Issues in the Organization and their Effect on Performance

The traditional organization framework has numerous shortcomings in the coordination and communication within the organization. The medical sector has realized drastic changes in medical technology and innovation that improve medical diagnoses, prognosis, and therapies. The hierarchical systems are so bureaucratic, limiting efficient performance within the health care system due to frequent and modern changes within the system (Porter-O’Grady & Malloch, 2007). The organization I work for has for many years relied on the decisions made by a few people in the leadership and management positions. This has been a significant limitation as healthcare is transforming from volume-based to value-centric approaches that require every player in the system to take part and approach various issues in different ways.

Physicians

In the work groups and clinical teams of my organization, the doctors hold the top positions. It would be important to note that most medical schools lack formal leadership education for the doctors; this significantly impacts the coordination within the organization as most of the leaders lack the necessary skills for effective coordination (Stoller, 2009). There is also a poor collaboration between the administrative leaders in the organization and the clinical providers. As a result, there arise regular misunderstandings between the decisions made by the two groups. This scenario affects the workability, leading to poor performance in the organization.

Executive Leadership

According to Porter-O’Grady and Malloch (2007), conventional ideologies relating to management in health care separates treatment and administration. The administration concentrates on coming up with a framework of the operation procedures while doctors and nurses concentrate on treatments of patients. The biggest failure in the coordination and planning in the organization is how the clinical leaders seclude and alienate the medical personnel in organizational planning. For decisions to be viable for quality service delivery in health systems, all the key players must be involved in the planning process. The organization's executive uses bureaucratic models that apply operational procedures that are overly complex, misaligned, and competing themselves in governing the organization. On the one hand, some of the top executives in the organization do not have adequate knowledge of the clinical tasks that can produce the best outcomes. On the other hand, clinicians have adequate knowledge on how to achieve efficiency and quality in healthcare. Lack of proper collaboration between the two in the organization forces the administration to formulate and implement strategies that do not conform to health standards. According to Mickinsey (2009), health facilities that allow high participation of the clinicians in management decisions achieve about 50% higher on the performance of significant drivers than hospitals with inadequate involvement of the clinicians.

Other Limitations

Other factors that impact coordination and communication in the organization include limitations imposed on employees, making them unable to employ their expertise in carrying out various tasks. In other words, employees cannot go beyond the required standards of performance as expected by the executive or make independent decisions where necessary. The views of the employees is also limited as they are confined to specific tasks; they only focus on the assigned tasks hence fail to discern how their performance or performance of other departments affect the general outcome in the organization. Employees from different departments should interact and communicate often to ensure that they all work in a collaborative way to attain a common goal. Another factor include the gap established between the top management and the low level employees. The lower level employees, in many cases, fear to react to the decisions made by the higher management. This breakdown in communication may lead to poor decisions as at time the management may not realize a problem experienced in the lower levels. Common standards and procedures result to poor morale and dissatisfaction among the employees as they are denied and opportunity to implement their novel ideas.

Recommendation on Organization Strategies to Improve on Coordination and Communication

Empowering of Leaders

The functionality and success of the organization depend significantly on empowerment of the leaders. Leaders with relevant skills and knowledge will facilitate an organizational structure that pays attention to unleashing potentials, foster creativity, and promote the smooth progress of operations. Such empowerment, in the organization I work for, can be achieved by diverting attention from the hierarchical structure to giving more power to the right individuals in their respective positions.

Provision of Ownership

In the organizational framework, ownership can be achieved when there exists a buy-in from the bottom to top and system-wide levels. Where the ownership is not distributed, the organization becomes self-serving hence undermining empowerment. According to Hsu (2008), ownership is a great motivational factor in an organization as it helps employees to become more accountable for their actions and decisions. Therefore, for greater achievement in my organization, ownership should not only be confined to the management but should be distributed among all employees.

Building of Trust

Developing a good relationship among all levels of employees promote commitment and trust in an organization (Hsu, 2008). Therefore, an organizational structure that allows clear and open communication, consistency, accountability, management follow-through, and show concern for the interests of workers helps in building trust. To improve the organizational structure of my organization, the low-level employees and the management should establish a good relationship to allow free communication between the different levels of the work unit. To achieve that, the management should welcome the views and opinions of the low-level employees.

Establishment of a Common Ground

Individuals work best when they are in a company that they see as similar to themselves (Hsu, 2008). Therefore, instead of having a hierarchical system, the organization can form an inclusive environment with shared objectives, developing a sense of community. To attain this, the employees need to understand and appreciate the overall goals for the organization. Having shared goals helps in effective pursue of the aims.

Conclusion

In summation, from the discussion in this paper, it is evident that organizational structure has significant impact on its performance. The traditional organizational structure is outdated, considering the modern transformation in the organizational setup, especially in health care. The major shortcoming for the structure is that it is very bureaucratic and exclusive when it comes to decision making process. Therefore, to improve coordination and cooperation within an organization, a structure that allows inclusive decisions and collaboration is essential. To improve organization and coordination, it would be imperative to foster an organizational structure founded on trust, where employees have a sense of ownership, leaders are empowered, and where employees work towards accomplishment of a common goal.