Strategic Management and the Health Care Facility - Essay Example

Strategic Management and the Health Care Facility Introduction There are many issues which a senior executive must consider at the highest levels of the health care organization, including stakeholder relationships, marketing, and ensuring the highest levels of quality care from practicing physicians and other support staff. The information provided in this paper is based on a face-to-face discussion with the Senior Risk Manager at a general care hospital which accepts emergency patients and maintains the facilities to house several hundred patients. The Strategic Issues In order to build a template for interview, it was necessary to conduct preliminary research into certain strategic issues which might be present in a variety of health care settings. Two health care professionals identify that the hands of health care workers can spread “both normal and pathological microorganisms” and is the “main route of infection spread” (Green-McKenzie and Caruso, 2006, p.57). This led to the development of interview questions dealing with the potential risks of worker-to-patient infection spreads to induce discussion from the participant about this aspect of health care delivery and patient liability. The Senior Risk Manager advised that these types of problems are present in most health care settings, with the hospital administration continuously having to work within guidelines from multiple regulatory forces (such as the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention). With there always being a risk of transmitting dangerous infections or diseases from worker to patient, part of the risk manager’s role is to procure literature on the subject, coordinate the distribution of alcohol-based hand rubs, and ensure compliance to certain individual staff guidelines on clean health care delivery. In this role, the risk manager also works on various informative programs for community citizens regarding better hygiene in the home and professional environment as part of the hospital’s growing focus on sending the public image of a socially-conscious organization. Thus, at the senior level, it would seem that in-house sanitation and community hygiene and the promotion of better health care are regular concerns and considerations. It is not only disease transmission concerns at the strategic level which cause concern, it is also the safe and accurate administration of medication to patients. It was identified that there have been several instances of patients receiving incorrect dosages due to illegible documents which were translated incorrectly. This represents a problem with physician quality-of-service. As part of this risk assessment, it was decided at this facility that sloppy physician writing was a reality of patient care, thus instead of reprimanding physicians, the hospital installed a new, touch-screen system for patient care. This was designed to improve the communications between physicians and support staff and also ensure that the hospital was reducing its potential liability for accurate medication dosing. “For many years, medication errors have been a source of serious concern within the health care community” (Skiba, 2006, p.70). Interestingly, information systems technology is another senior-level concern and also the staff which supports this function. Lutchen and Collins (2005) offer that one of the largest problems with information technology (IT) lies in governance, with an inability to establish specific rules and staff monitoring systems in many different industries. At this particular health care facility, information systems technology issues are not often discussed at the risk manager’s level. However, a recent outsourcing project which decentralized the IT function was assessed for risk issues in terms of dealing with foreign customer support representatives (cultural issues). Though IT governance was not indicated as being a problem at this hospital, outsourcing and organizational culture were identified as considerations at the strategic level. Olden, Roggenkamp and Luke (2002) offer information about strategic hospital alliances in an effort to better market hospitals. This is a situation in which two or more hospitals join talents and resources to develop mutually-beneficial marketing, such as in the pursuit of gaining higher volumes of managed care contracts. The interview participant identified that these decisions were often made at different levels of the organization and were not necessarily risk management scenarios. However, the long-term impact of business-to-business and business-to-consumer marketing were regularly considered for areas of hospital reputation, public and stakeholder viewpoint, and also appropriateness to the market. The participant appeared to believe that marketing was one of the most crucial, and most overlooked, aspects of hospital success. From the risk manager perspective, this health care facility was underperforming against other hospitals in this marketplace due to an inability to effectively use business-to-consumer marketing. This is apparently a highly competitive marketplace, in terms of hospital marketing, with smaller hospitals attempting to position their businesses to build consumer perceptions of a more warm and inviting environment. For example, a smaller hospital in the region began using more 1950’s retro furnishings in each room as a marketing strategy to build consumer interest when choosing hospitals. Instead of focusing on quality health care or innovation as key marketing tools, this retro-marketing through décor change had brought this smaller hospital much more contracts and business. Thus, it can be said that competitive behaviors and marketing strategies are considerations at the senior level of hospital administration. Areas of performance improvement were also identified as being part of the senior administrator job function. The Risk Manager is regularly part of peer discussions about strategic alignment and how best to organize the business and motivate positive staff performance. Patient satisfaction is one of the most-discussed objectives and how to ensure continuous improvements to meet this goal. Many hospitals, today, use consumer satisfaction surveys and in-depth focus groups to understand how to effectively provide quality patient care which meets their needs (Koch and Rumrill, 2008). Though at this particular health care facility, the risk manager is not directly involved in organizational improvements in terms of staffing and human resources management, the participant does deal with the consequences of administering disciplinary rules and regulations. Part of the risk manager role is to identify potential liabilities which could rise from disciplining physicians, nurses, or other support staff. A rising number of complaints from staff regarding the manner by which policy is managed and administered has led to the risk manager being more actively involved in creating this portion of human resources policy. Each time a new system or process is launched in regards to discipline, it is part of the hospital’s best practice guidelines to ensure they are sent to the risk manager for review and opinion. Conclusion Identifying methods to improve the quality and accuracy of patient care were identified as concerns at the strategic level. This included the administration of correct medication dosages as well as considering better methods of avoiding microorganism spread from staff to patient. Because hospitals rely on their reputation in order to compete successfully, supported by the participant’s discussion of public relations efforts to reduce stakeholder-related risk, this would seem to be one of the most primary senior-level issues. It was also identified that marketing and the needs of the patient are top senior-level concerns and responsibilities. Hospitals are joining forces to create better marketing and improve their images while at the same time using focus groups to uncover a variety of consumer needs regarding hospital care. This is growing evidence that senior level hospital administrators must be focused on issues of customer service and how to use advertising and promotion to create a better public image for the hospital or other health care facility. Patient needs and the efforts used to bring more patients or contracts (through business-to-business marketing) are also competitive tools for outperforming other hospitals. References Ezzeddine, Ahmad. (2006). “Lean indicators in hospital/healthcare settings and the role of leadership in the diffusion of performance improvement strategies”. Wayne State University. Green-McKenzie, J. and Caruso, G. (2006). “Health Care Workers’ Crucial Barriers”. Occupational Health & Safety, Waco. 75(4), pp.57-60. Koch, L. and Rumrill, P. (2008). “Assessing consumer satisfaction in rehabilitation and allied health care settings”. Work, Shannon. 31(3), p.357. Lutchen, M. and Collins, A. (2005). “IT Governance in a Health Care Setting: Reinventing the Health Care Industry”. Journal of Health Care Compliance, Frederick. 7(6), pp.27-31. Olden, P., Roggenkamp, S. and Luke, R. (2002). “A post-1990s assessment of strategic hospital alliances and their marketplace orientations: Time to refocus”. Health Care Management Review. 27(2), pp.33-50. Skiba, Michaeline. (2006). “Strategies for Identifying and Minimizing Medication Errors in Health Care Settings”. The Health Care Manager, Frederick. 25(1), p.70. Read More