Improving Access to Hospice Care - Essay Example

Organizational structure Introduction The core reason for seeking heath care is to enhance the well-being of an individual, either to cure an infection or to improve the quality of life. Health care organizations play a critical role in achievement of the goal of health care demand thus the management structure and the culture of health care organization are instrumental in determination of the quality of services offered by a particular organization. With the development of new health conditions, it is important to understand the structure and culture of health care organizations as a means of promoting health care quality. To understand the culture and the structure of a healthcare organization, this paper will focus on serenity hospice, with inference to mission, values, vision, strategic plan, goals, and objectives. Additionally, the Hospice will be analyzed on the basis of key operational process and pattern, information technology use, organizational priorities as well as on the cultural aspect of the organization. Serenity Hospice Serenity Hospice is a health care organization that addresses the needs of the terminally ill patients as well as the significant others. The Hospice uses a team approach in management of the patients, with the team members comprising of doctors, nurses, social workers, clergy as well as other health care providers. The culture of team approach used in the facility ensures quality of care thus offering holistic services to the patients. Serenity Hospice has a mission of “to provide exceptional physical, emotional, social, and spiritual support, enabling patients and their loved ones to have an end-of-life experience characterized by dignity, choice and comfort” this mission elaborates the significance of quality in the hospice (Carlson, Morrison, & Bradley, 2008). Serenity Hospice has three crucial aspects in its vision, being; dignity, comfort and peace. Under these visions, the hospice purposes to enhance and maintain the respect and self-esteem of the clients, soothe in time of distress or affliction and enhance the inner contentment of the clients. Additionally, with the team approach and the patient-centered care offered in the organization, the organization operates under the values of excellence, integrity, leadership and patient satisfaction. Strategic plans, goals, and objectives Based on its strategic plans, serenity hospice plans to employ the use of technologically advanced instruments in the management of its operations. Additionally, the organization plans to improve the training program of its team members to offer more qualified and dynamic approaches to the provision of services to the patients. In collaboration with the government and non-government agencies, the company targets to ease the financing of their services in an approach whereby the patients can benefit from the health financing schemes thus cautioning the family from the financial burden of ill health. The core objective of care provision at Serenity Hospice is to improve the quality of life. Nevertheless, based on the goal of care provision at the organization, the hospice does not intend to prolong life but to enhance the provision of a more dignified life full of comfort. Additional to the provision of quality and dignified care, the hospice equally hold ethical consideration in the provision of services and decision making as a critical goal. The organization works with the framework of ethical considerations to ensure that decisions made by the patient or on behalf of the patient are those that are geared towards the well-being of the client and the family. Additionally, pain control is among the primary goals of the hospice, which purposed to ensure that the patient is cared for in a pain free environment, where comfort is of paramount importance (Candy, Holman, Leurent, Davis, & Jones, 2011). Key operational processes and patterns Serenity Hospice uses both traditional means as well as a complimentary therapy in the management of the patients. The organization chooses the methods of care to be utilized in clients through collaboration with research instituted to employ the latest trends in research as a means of improving the quality of care. According to research findings, the complimentary approach to care for the patients assists in relieving stress and decreasing pain. Complimentary measures not only make the patients feel better, but also offer an alternative means of communication to the patients. Addition to traditional and complementary approach in the hospice operation, the hospice equally employ the use of technologically advanced methods in care provision like the medical imaging equipment and computer diagnosis technology to enhance the management of the patients symptoms and conditions. In as much as the operational process at the hospice is not intended for the cure of an illness, the operational pattern, includes a collaborative approach between the health care providers, the patient, and the family to ensure comfort and well-being of the patient. In the pattern of its operations, serenity hospice offers services like dietary counseling, voluntary support, drugs for the management of conditions and symptoms as well as psychological counseling. These services in combination with a well-defined and elaborate management structure of the organization allow for the effective provision of services. Organizational culture and priorities In relation to the financial records of serenity hospice for the fiscal year ended on 31 December 2013, program services were the highest among the expenditure of the organization, totaling to $2,150,565. This implies that improvement of service provision through enhancement of programs is a priority of the organization. Among the program services that are the priority of the organization are consultancy services, research and technological programs that ate geared towards enhancement of the standards of services provided to the clients (Carlson, Bradley, Du, & Morrison, 2010). Inferring to the organizational culture, teamwork and critical decision-making are crucial elements of the organizational culture. Teamwork as a culture ensures that health care providers collaborate in a professional way to improve service quality. Critical decision making among the team members equally improves the accuracy of diagnosis and management of the patient, thus the combination of teamwork and critical decision-making as core cultures of the organization helps in achievement of the organization’s goal or quality service provision through enhancement of comfort and evidenced based care. Conclusion Organizational culture is an instrumental factored in defining the quality of services offered by the organization. Owing to the team approach embraced in Serenity Hospice coupled with the use of a combination of complimentary and technological aspect in the management of terminally ill patients, the organization has been able to achieve trendemous millstones that draw it near in achievements of its goals and objectives. Working with an explicitly defined mission, the employees of the organization work towards a common goal in improvement of their care outcome. References Candy, B., Holman, A., Leurent, B., Davis, S., & Jones, L. (2011). Hospice care delivered at home, in nursing homes and in dedicated hospice facilities: A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative evidence. International Journal of Nursing Studies. Carlson, M. D. A., Bradley, E. H., Du, Q., & Morrison, R. S. (2010). Geographic access to hospice in the United States. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 13, 1331–1338. Carlson, M. D. A., Morrison, R. S., & Bradley, E. H. (2008). Improving access to hospice care: informing the debate. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 11, 438–443. Read More