Management of People in Healthcare Organizations - Essay Example

? Management of People in Healthcare Organizations inserts his/her s Organizational performance in the healthcare sector is largely dependent on effective control systems and policies that ensure commitment to the quality of healthcare for the benefit of patients. It is an integrated network whereby the knowledge, attributes and experience of healthcare service managers plays an integral role in ensuring high quality of healthcare. This role becomes even more important as the nature of work in health care is highly people oriented. Managers in healthcare organizations usually display leadership coordination and supervision of employees. This is because the nature of job and its complexity is such that employees cannot achieve tasks on an individual basis. These managers must not only take the critical decisions of ensuring that patients receive timely and efficient services but also address performance targets set for the employees. With globalization and the information age, the level of technological innovation has increased in the healthcare sector along with increased clinical specialization. On the contrary, there is a focus towards reducing costs worldwide, which requires doing away with traditional hierarchical structures and working in teams in both managerial and clinical setups. Integrated solutions can then be reached by these cross-disciplinary teams. This is in contrast to the traditional paradigm whereby there was a conflict between the general managers and health care service clinicians. It is important to understand that the healthcare service delivery process comprises of inputs in the form of medicines, equipment/technology and other health systems and the outcome of patient’s well-being. The role of healthcare service employees is quintessential in the intertwining “process” since health care is a people-oriented job and cannot be done with automated techniques. The personalized nature of job, therefore, makes the contribution and management of these professionals critical to the achievement of organizational outcomes. For healthcare employees, employees may be considered as internal customers whose satisfaction is equally necessary to guarantee organizational success. One of the most important techniques to ensure employee commitment and satisfaction is to indulge in cross-training. Cross-training is practiced in healthcare organisations as job rotation is highly demanded by healthcare jobs. For instance, a file clerk, a data entry expert and a secretary may work in each other’s roles in case either of them is ill or on a vacation or during times of heavy workload or emergencies (Fallon & McConnell, 2007). Cross-training is, therefore, extremely necessary considering the demand for flexibility in today’s globalised world. On the other hand, most healthcare managers may simply hand over folders of information to be reviewed by the new employee which is a poor way of learning and results in low levels of information absorption. This is mostly done on the grounds that managers cannot devote sufficient time for training of new staff. This problem can be overcome by cross-functional training as people other than the manager (who are skilled at particular tasks) can be used to train the newcomer. Furthermore, the compensation plans of health care employees may also require management. Since the compensation of people in healthcare organisations constitutes the major part of expenses, organisations find it lucrative to reduce the pay and/or size of its staff in order to provide affordable healthcare to patients. In the modern age, however, techniques for managing employee pay and compensation has changed with third-party reimbursements tracking the nursing hours per visit, technological expenses and services utilized by clinicians. Furthermore, health care organisations mostly insist on offering “bonuses” as a primary incentive for enhancing performance of healthcare service professionals (Hernandez & O'Connor, 2009). Also, benefits in the healthcare are mostly not taxable to the employee; therefore, companies have adopted the practice of providing significant benefits to healthcare employees (Hernandez & O'Connor, 2009). However, some benefits may have limited scope meaning that they be beneficial only to particular employees. For instance, a reimbursement for an educational program may be particularly fruitful to a young aspiring healthcare employee who has recently graduated but may not appeal to a senior professional in the field. To overcome this problem health care organisations have adopted the practice of offering benefits suited to each employee such as the “cafeteria” plan where employees choose their benefits themselves for a fixed amount of money (Fallon & McConnell, 2007). Although these may be useful, health care organisations must move towards competitive compensation models that enhance quality of outcomes and, at the same time, reduce employee costs. Pay for performance systems have the potential for not only enhancing the quality of healthcare services beyond the duty of care, but also reduce organizational expenses by reducing payments to third-parties and the government. Additionally, there have been challenges posed by greater scrutiny by government bodies and accreditation bodies in recent years such that healthcare organisations have to face increased liability for majority of their operations. This means that recruitment of health care staff is no longer concerned with “filling a position” but finding and retaining the right fit for the job (Hernandez & O'Connor, 2009). Managers at health care organisations are required to screen for qualified professionals such as those possessing advanced certification in their areas of expertise. However, these individuals may not be readily available as the healthcare industry has struggled with finding competent professionals in recent years. Healthcare managers must adopt behavioral interviews and peer-interviewing as opposed to the traditional skills-based interviews. Additionally, many companies are now considering the adoption of e-recruitment rather than the conventional method of hiring nurses within a “30 mile radius” (Gautam, 2005). Online recruitment is not just limited to filling of electronic application forms but involves screening for the candidates online through video conferencing and other latest technologies available. This is line with research that suggests that potential candidates in healthcare have adopted the internet much faster compared to the healthcare organisations or employers (Gautam, 2005). Considering that the health care industry is faced with shortage of competent labor, expanding the process of recruitment to incorporate the internet as a mode of recruitment in addition to traditional methods can greatly help healthcare organisations. This, however, must be balanced with the need to cut down costs during current recessionary times. Nevertheless, hospitals and other healthcare organisations must give up traditional advertising in newspapers simply because the new generation responds more to internet postings. Furthermore, tighter compliance regulations such as the rules published by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and The Joint Commission entail that the qualifications of workers are periodically checked and verified on a monthly basis (Haddad, 2011). Therefore, continuous monitoring of employee data has become a necessity which is fulfilled by technological solutions such as “Emcompass HR” that allow for centralization of medical and non-medical data of healthcare staff across the organisation on a real-time basis (Haddad, 2011). These systems are integrated, meaning that they record not just the qualifications but the reporting and performance requirements of these employees as well. As part of the effort to enhance productivity of healthcare employees, the use of technology has been propagated. For one thing, using electronic health records ensures systematic and smooth communication between patients, physicians and other stakeholders in the healthcare organisation. On the contrary, these systems carry the challenge of being able to retrieve only limited medical information of the patients which has brought criticism to its acceptance. Furthermore, telehealth applications have become a necessity in today’s information age as this facility allows clinical services to be provided from a distance, usually from the provider to the patient (California Telehealth Research Center, 2012). Chronic diseases that require monitoring at home may use technologies such as videoconferencing and adaptable clinical instruments that allow the patient and the doctor to communicate as if they were in the same room (California Telehealth Research Center, 2012). However, such technological implementation poses challenges to the healthcare organisation which must undergo change management to adopt the necessary training and practices compatible with such technologies. External barriers such as financial constraints, stringent regulatory environment as well the complexity of having multiple users involved including physicians, nurses, doctors, patients and administrators, hinder the adoption of such technologies (National Research Council (US) Committee on Enhancing the Internet for Health Applications: Technical Requirements and Implementation Strategies, 2000). The uncertainty brought about by electronic medical records, for instance, can create internal inertia against such change. Health care organisations that adopt such technologies must, therefore, hire third-party support for the purpose of handling and assisting the change. Training may be required for the purpose of handling email queries of patients, for instance. Overall, significant attention may have to be given to the formation of an information technology department that provides troubleshooting for the issues surrounding the new technology. To conclude, managing people in health care organisations requires an integrated approach by management that ensures that cross-departmental training and teamwork is established to ensure a matrix-style organizational structure with free flow of information across the organisation. Furthermore, the demands of today’s information age have put pressure on health care firms to streamline and develop their information systems, for instance by keeping electronic medical records and engaging in telehealth facilities. To this end, specific software can be used to ensure integrated records of employee performance. At the same time, however, most health care organisations need to strike a balance between the demands of the modern times and the need to keep costs low and maintain high quality. As noted earlier, the adoption of information systems may be a complex process involving an extensive period of change management and training on the part of the health care organisation. References California Telehealth Research Center. (2012). Telehealth. Retrieved from California Telehealth Research Center: http://www.caltrc.org/telehealth Fallon, L. F., & McConnell, C. R. (2007). Human Resource Management in Health Care: Principles and Practice. London: Jones and Bartlett's. Gautam. (2005). A summation of online recruiting practices for health care organizations. Health Care Management, 257-267. Haddad, M. (2011, October 1). Technology Fills the Compliance Void for Healthcare HR. Retrieved from Healthcare Review: http://www.healthcarereview.com/2011/10/technology-fills-the-compliance-void-for-healthcare-hr/ Hernandez, S. R., & O'Connor, S. J. (2009). Strategic Human Resources Management in Health Services Organizations. New York: Cengage Learning. National Research Council (US) Committee on Enhancing the Internet for Health Applications: Technical Requirements and Implementation Strategies. (2000). Networking Health: Prescriptions for the Internet. 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