UnitedHealthcare Group - Assignment Example

 Introduction UnitedHealthcare Group is one of the top international healthcare organizations, which deals in several facets of healthcare. UnitedHealthcare is a segment of the UnitedHealthcare Group, one of the market leaders in healthcare industry. UnitedHealthcare provides people with inclusive collection of customer based health advantage plans, products and schemes. The organization is dedicated towards ensuring health and welfare of people, hence assists in fulfilling their healthcare requirements. The essay is based on strategic assessment of UnitedHealthcare with respect to network growth, resource management, and staffing as well as customer satisfaction. Thesis Statement The purpose of the essay is to measure the readiness of the organization and to observe the strategic plans that would be required to be incorporated by the organization for satisfying the healthcare requirements of the citizens in the next decade (UnitedHealth Group, n.d.). Healthcare Needs of Citizens in the Next Decade The citizens of next decade will have several additional healthcare requirements in comparison to people of present generation. As a consequence, the staffing requirement for specialized workers in several medical occupations (such as nurse) will also rise in the next decade. In present days, people largely neglect the personal healthcare aspects such as diet, exercise and sleeping requirements and significantly engage in several unhealthy activities such as smoking and drinking among others. Besides, increasing level of stress and obesity issues has also become prevalent for people. Several studies depicted that in the United States (US), 50% of deaths are attributed to preventable actions and negligence of people to several manageable aspects. Thus, in the next decade there will be requirement for better health programs along with providing awareness education which can lead to change in behavior of people (Adams, Archbold, Mounib & New, 2010). Furthermore, in the next decade, citizens are expected to gradually undertake higher responsibilities for healthcare. This, in turn it will increase the requirement of tailored healthcare delivery in terms of better healthcare products and services. As citizens would require bearing the financial stress of handling healthcare issues, they will require effective direction through better healthcare plans. For instance, according to the statistics of ‘America’s Health Insurance Plans’ in 2007, almost 4.5 million Americans were covered with effective healthcare plans (Adams, Archbold, Mounib & New, 2010). In the next decade, health management will gain similar importance like wealth management for citizens. Readiness of United Healthcare in Addressing the Healthcare Needs of Citizens UnitedHealthcare is quite suitably equipped with fulfilling the requirements of citizens in terms of better network development, staffing, resource administration and patient satisfaction. It provides several innovative products to people, and the programs of UnitedHealthcare allow more affordable access to medicines, hence reducing the economic burden (UnitedHealth Group, 2012). Strategic Plan Pertaining To Network Growth The network of UnitedHealthcare has expanded to the entire world. UnitedHealthcare serves almost 75 million people internationally. The organization has facilitated to launch 11 healthcare centers in the world to encourage disease detections and better control of chronic diseases. UnitedHealthcare Group operates its business in almost 18 nations globally, assisting in around every aspect of healthcare financing and delivery. UnitedHealthcare always assists people in finding and receiving the best quality healthcare products and services available to them. It provides supervision to assist people make good decisions regarding healthcare activities (UnitedHealth Group, 2012). In present days, the healthcare industry is largely homogeneous and organizations frequently compete mainly on price. This competition will be determined by product or service policy characteristics and quality of providers’ network. Hence, UnitedHealthcare is required to develop strong network to fulfill the requirements of patients. Strategic Plan Pertaining to Nurse Staffing Since the healthcare requirements of citizens will rise gradually; more specialized employees will be needed. Hence, UnitedHealthcare will require developing better strategies for staffing so that it can fulfill the increasing healthcare necessities of citizens. The key for effective staffing is to make the process more customers oriented, patient concerned, honest and obedient. Thus, UnitedHealthcare strives to make the staffing of employees easy and effective. The staffing services of the organization include nurses, mental health staff, social staff, laboratory authorities, physician supporters, and other associated health experts (United Health Care Staffing, 2010). Strategic Plan Pertaining to Resource Management The aspect of demographic shift in citizens will necessitate re-assessment of resources of UnitedHealthcare to determine the changing requirements. Nowadays, maximum healthcare resources are consumed by chronic diseases which will increase significantly in the next decade. As a consequence, the provision of health services of UnitedHealthcare is resourced effectively so that it can provide quality services to the patients. There are several healthcare requirements of people which vary from basic needs to optimal needs. Since the healthcare needs of people will increase gradually, the demand for healthcare resources will also augment. Hence, UnitedHealthcare will require predetermined resources for satisfying the requirements of citizens (IBM Institute for Business Value, n.d.). Strategic Plan Pertaining to Patient Satisfaction The aspect of patient satisfaction has achieved significant consideration from organizations in the healthcare industry. In order to remain feasible in the industry, it is vital for UnitedHealthcare to view patients as customers. It will have direct effect on healthcare quality, both with respect to services offered and status of the organization for fulfilling customers’ requirements in the best possible way (Laruffa, 2005). The patients in United Healthcare are provided with accurate and appropriate information, as lack of information can result in commercial waste and failure of services in the way of misdiagnosis, needless assessments and ineffective use of medicines. The issue of patient satisfaction can be effectively dealt with the quality of healthcare delivery system, hence UnitedHealthcare concentrates on aspects such as better communication with the patients, depicting sensitivity, comfort as well as cleanliness in the provided services and within the organization. In present days, healthcare delivery is concentrated mainly on periodic treatment of critical care which will grow to ensure prevention of illness, chronic disease administration and better healthcare management. Considering these aspects, UnitedHealthcare provides personalized services to develop the level of patient satisfaction (IBM Institute for Business Value, n.d.). Conclusion The essay on UnitedHealthcare provides information upon certain strategic aspects which need to be considered by the organization in order to fulfill the requirements of citizens in the next decade. The organization provides several healthcare programs, consulting services, valuable information and products to the customers. It has the ability to effectively and efficiently organize the resources in order to enhance the healthcare services. Furthermore, better staffing will be required for reducing the gap in service and product delivery process. The organization will have to maintain the delivery network to generate value for the citizens. It will help to provide personalized care through extensive range of services and products. References Adams, J., Archbold, B. A., Mounib, E. L., & New, D. (2010). Healthcare 2015 and U.S. health plans new roles, new competencies. Retrieved from http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/gbs/bus/pdf/g510-7582-00-hc2015.pdf IBM Institute for Business Value. (n.d.). Healthcare 2015: Win-win or lose-lose? Retrieved from http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/gbs/bus/pdf/healthcare2015-win-win_or_lose-lose.pdf Laruffa, J. B. (2005). Patient Satisfaction: A tool to help improve patient-centered quality service at New York Methodist Hospital. Retrieved from http://www2.binghamton.edu/ccpa/public-administration/current-students/capstone/Jeanmarie%20LaRuffa.pdf UnitedHealth Group. (n.d.). About. Retrieved from http://www.unitedhealthgroup.com/main/aboutus.aspx UnitedHealth Group. (2012). UnitedHealth Group around the world. Retrieved from http://www.unitedhealthgroup.com/globalhealth/UNH-Global-Brochure.pdf United Health Care Staffing. (2010). United Health Care staffing. Retrieved from http://www.uhcstaffing.com/ Read More