Decision Making Case Study - Research Paper Example

The first step is to create a question that has no judgment in it. according to Rundall et al. (2007), the question must be to the point and not too broad or narrow. In this case, the question that may be appropriate is, "Which programs that we have now are most used by our patients?" This question would get to the heart of the problem. When program managers need to cut services they sometimes cut across the board instead of looking at the changes that can be made without interrupting services.

In this step, the manager gathers information from a variety of sources. This means they are not only paying attention to their department, but they are gaining knowledge form the people who are using services as well as suppliers, colleagues, and anyone else who has a stake in the organization. This should also include the board members. According to Gudes, Kendall, Yigitcanlar, Pathak and Baum (2010), involving major stakeholders and users of services in decision making insures that information comes from diverse sources and encourages strong collaboration between those interested in the organization.

Also, this collaboration insures that change is an ongoing process instead of a series of one shot deals. In a clinical setting, having several people to give information allows for an understanding of the full picture, which is very important when services must be cut. I found that the websites in this section were very good for funding information on a global level. They provided current research that could be used to compare and contrast specific information to see the bigger picture for Medicaid and situations in a clinical setting.

Rundall et al. (2007) suggest that in this step, the organization must take a deeper look at the evidence and make sure that it is "accurate, applicable, actionable and accessible" (p. 336). This is an important step because after step 2, there will be a wealth of information