The Future of the U.S. Health Care - Essay Example

United s is an ageing society with more population becoming old with new and unique health requirements. United Healthcare is the largest single carrier of healthcare services and is well prepared to meet the current and future needs. In order to meet the future challenges it needs to train its nurses to specifically learn to meet the challenges of older population. United Healthcare also need to ensure that it uses it resources wisely while at the same time increase patient satisfaction through improved e-healthcare services. Introduction America is an ageing society with more and more population sliding towards the age bracket with higher healthcare requirements. The rapid changes at the Federal level of the regulations indicate the seriousness with which Federal government is looking to revamp the healthcare system of the country. The changing health needs, economic constraints as well as other factors may limit the ability of many Americans to get access to high quality healthcare. (Mathews, 2011) UnitedHealth Group is a diversified managed healthcare group offering various health care related products across whole USA. It primarily offers its services through two different business lines and serves the healthcare needs of almost over 70 million Americans. It is therefore the largest single healthcare carrier in United States serving the overall health care needs of American. As healthcare needs of Americans are changing and future needs may look different, this paper will assess the readiness of UnitedHealth and will present a strategic plan pertaining to network growth, nurse staffing as well as resource management and patient satisfaction. United Healthcare and its readiness American population is becoming rapidly diversified and ageing with different healthcare requirements emerging. The future therefore can be relatively challenging as organizations have to make important strategic changes in order to accommodate the future needs. United Healthcare has already achieved much of the recognition in terms of its accurate claim processing as well as timeliness of the claim payments. It has also been awarded different recognitions in terms of employer satisfaction for several of its products. United has already 70,000 employees serving the needs of its customers and providing different healthcare services across different States. The sheer depth of its work force therefore indicates that it is adequately prepared to meet the current requirements of the market. This is also evident from the recognition it received. It is also engaged into new acquisitions and making progress in terms of e-healthcare. New acquisitions actually increases the capacity of United Healthcare to accommodate the future needs as well as become more ready in terms of offering diversified range of services which can also cater to the future needs of the ageing population. Its readiness can be assessed from the fact that it already has a diversified range of products which are offered to various niches of the market. It has also the financial resources to cater to the future needs of the market. Its large financial resources as well as better financial performance during recent times, it can gather enough resources to actually cater to the emerging needs of the market. The future needs of the market are specifically more inclined towards meeting the needs of the ageing market. There has been special emphasis on the need for adequate staffing for catering the needs of the ageing population. There is also a large population which is still uninsured and offers a relatively large market to tap into this market and its future needs. With the new healthcare regulations in place, the overall readiness of Healthcare can be effective. (The National Urban League Wire, 2012) Strategy and Implementation In order to meet the new challenges and the future needs of the coming decade, following strategy can be implemented: Network Growth United Healthcare is already engaged into acquisitions strategy to expand its range of services. (Bandell, 2012). However, in order to increase its network growth and include the uninsured persons into its customer base, it needs to make its presence at smaller level. It need to liaison with and form strategic alliances with healthcare service providers which have presence in smaller minority areas. Network can be extended through opening up centers in the minority and remote areas to provide better coverage to the new market. Nurse Staffing In terms of nurse staffing, it needs to focus on the needs of the older population as the needs of the baby boomers in terms of their health will be different. United Healthcare therefore need to particularly implement organization development and training programs which can upgrade the skill level of its existing experienced workforce to cater to the needs of the older population. It specially needs to develop programs where it can implement and integrated strategic HR initiatives in order to fulfill these needs. Resource Management It needs to divert its sources more towards e-healthcare and meeting the future needs of the older market. In order to cater to the needs of this market, it need to ensure that it makes its investment decisions rightly which are in alignment with the requirements of the future needs. All future capital expenditure as well as the formation of strategic alliances should be made with organizations which can help it to target the future market needs. Resource management should also be done in terms of expanding into markets and areas which are already not tapped or to expand the areas which have potential to expand in future. Patient Satisfaction In order to increase the patient satisfaction and allow patients to be more responsive and happier with the services, it is important to increase the turnaround time for claim settlement as well as processing. Patient satisfaction can also be increased by establishing new facilities nearer to the locations where customers can reach easily. Near locations however, need to be equipped with the latest healthcare technology and right type of staff to cater to the needs of the patients. It specifically needs to improve upon its patient satisfaction for older people because their needs are unique and diverse in nature. Conclusion United Healthcare is the single largest carrier of healthcare services in United States. With over 70,000 staff and presence in most of the States, it serves healthcare market since long. The future trends indicate that there will be older patients and those persons who have been uninsured will also come under health insurance regimes. United Healthcare seems to be ready to meet new challenges as it has equipped itself with adequate and well trained staff is there to meet the requirements. To meet future requirements it however, has to deploy its resources wisely and adequately train its nurses to meet healthcare needs of older population. Bibliography Bandell, B. (2012, Feburary 12). UnitedHealthcare buying Preferred Care Partners, Medica. Retrieved September 15, 2012, from South Florida Business Journal: http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2012/02/28/unitedhealthcare-buying-preferred.html?page=all MATHEWS, A. W. (2011, December 12). The Future of U.S. Health Care. Retrieved September 15, 2012, from Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204319004577084553869990554.html The National Urban League Wire. (2012, September 05). UnitedHealthcare, NCOA and USA TODAY Release Aging Survey. Retrieved September 15, 2012, from I am Empowered : http://iamempowered.com/article/2012/09/05/unitedhealthcare-ncoa-and-usa-today-release-aging-survey Read More