Management in Kaiser Group - Essay Example

Executive summary A hospital is an that never runs short of activity. The more advanced with technology a hospital is, the more enhanced the services that will be availed. Kaiser Permanente was started in the year 1945 (Computing and Intelligent Systems, 2011). The Medical centre has been continuously on growth, recruiting new staff and getting a higher number of patients each year (Yoder, 2014). The hospital was founded by one, Henry Kaiser who was an entrepreneur. The Kaiser group is made up of three separate entities: The Kaiser foundation Hospital, the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and the Permanente local Medical groups. The whole Kaiser establishment has an approximate of 160,000 staff, about 35 branches and close to 14,600 doctors. The hospital however, experiences problems while handling records for inpatients and outpatients, supply records for hospital equipment and schedules for programs in the hospital (Yoder, 2014). This proposal therefore seeks to ask for funding that will be used to buy equipment that will help store all records in the hospital (Computing and Intelligent Systems, 2011). The services at the hospital will be delivered in a quicker way, and will possibly be cheaper since the workload will reduce. The finances that will be utilized to make available the hospital equipment will require close to fifty million dollars. Methodology The research conducted on the Kaiser Permanente centre used online interviews to collect information. Previous records from the hospital were also used to collect patient’s attendance in the past years (Yoder, 2014). The interviews took one week to conduct. The same number of males and females was used. We targeted patients that accessed services from the hospital online, and did one personal interview with a frequent patient at Kaiser Permanente. Accessing hospital records took two days. On the first day, we had to ask for permission from the hospital authorities an on the second week after appealing to access the records we were granted access to them (Computing and Intelligent Systems, 2011). SCHEDULE: Day 1 of the interview Conducted an online interview with David Brown, a frequent patient at Kaiser Permanente. Day 2 Went for an interview with Miss White at the hospital and had an online conversation with an anonymous patient later in the day Day 3 Attended the board meeting at Kaiser Permanente where I was granted access to the hospital records, following earlier appeal. Day 4 Conducted two separate interviews with some of the nurses, one in the morning and the other in the evening. Day 5 Had an online session with two female patients and two male ones on the services they had at Kaiser Permanente. Day 6 Talked to the Manager of the Hospital who is also the main doctor on issues they face in the hospital Day 7 Compiled all the information I had gathered and also reviewed all the data before coming up with the proposal. Findings Kaiser Permanente, is a hospital that has hospitalized several patients, probably in tens of millions in the inpatient wards (Yoder, 2014). The hospital is not badly off in the hospital equipment, but is short of computing systems that will enhance the record keeping processes. Its Intensive Unit Care department is also short of around two life- supporting machines. The failure of this crucial equipment has led to the loss of lives, and the saddest part is that the losses are preventable (Computing and Intelligent Systems, 2011). The hospital staff work day in and day out to ensure that quality services are offered to the patients. The main branch of the hospital is situated in the city centre. It mainly faces competition from other hospitals, not because of the services but due to the shortage of technological equipment. The closest hospital from Kaiser Permanente is about two kilometers away. The main hospital also accommodates students from medical schools who are on practice. The nurses also complained they had problems on getting the exact patient attendance list, where therapies were supposed to be administered to the patients (Yoder, 2014). The nurses also complained about confused working schedules, where in some cases, some missed their shifts assuming they were placed on another time in the schedule (Computing and Intelligent Systems, 2011). Recommendations Considering that Kaiser Permanente is already an established institution, it is crucial that all equipment that will facilitate its running is installed. Most patients that had attended the hospital commended the personalized care they got from the staff (Yoder, 2014). However, they complained about slow attendance due to the manual way of dealing with information in the hospital. Computing systems in the hospital that would help store all information on statistics and schedules are crucial (Computing and Intelligent Systems, 2011). The staff would also require mini tablets or cell phones that would act as reminders of places they are supposed to be at during different times. The hospital should also be installed with devices that will disseminate information from whatever location in the hospital. The patients’ wards should have easy to reach buttons that can be used to quickly call a doctor or nurse. With the intent to keep lower records for lost lives, the life support equipment should also be increased to reduce the cases of death, since many serious cases in the city are referred to Shan’s Medical (Computing and Intelligent Systems, 2011). Qualifications I pursued degree in Business Information Technology(BBIT) and later, pursued nursing, where I based my career life. I have had three years of expertise in the IT industry and am therefore familiar with every bit involving Information Technology. If my client complies with all the Information Technology enhancements that will help improve the record keeping processes in the hospital, there will be a smoother flow of activities in the hospital (Computing and Intelligent Systems, 2011). Conclusion Kaiser Permanente is already a hospital that has earned prominence in the region as well as trust from its patients (Yoder, 2014). The hospital has pillars on which it is planted that ensure transparency and honesty in the way it runs its activities. The above project is bound to help the hospital earn even stronger trust from its patients and to reach its goal of creating a healthier society with better equipment to cater for the patients (Computing and Intelligent Systems, 2011). It is with utmost hope and confidence that the board will reconsider and grant the proposal towards making a better hospital and a healthier city. References Yoder-Wise, P. S. (2014). Leading and managing in nursing. St. Louis, Mo: Elsevier Mosby. Computing and Intelligent Systems: Pt. 4. (2011). Berlin: Springer. Read More