Category: Healthcare

Introduction

The term financial management refers to organization of monetary resources to achieve desired objectives and maximize companys worth while ensuring positive growth. This paper seeks to highlight the four elements of financial management and explain the generally acceptable accounting principles and financial ethical standards. It is evident that the need for proper financial management and adherence to sufficient financial reporting is vital for every organization irrespective of the industries in which they operate.

Financial management

Financial management entails planning, organizing, directing and controlling of financial processes in a firm. Financial resources in the enterprise are therefore managed using generally accepted principles to promote transparency and accountability. It takes into consideration investment decisions by defining allocation of financial resources, e.g. capital budgeting. Financial management deals with issues pertaining to raising finances or capital from a variety of sources for purposes of expansion, growth and new investments.

Objectives of financial management

Control and efficient allocation of resources is aimed at the following:

1. Ensure the company invests in safe endeavors.
2. Strike a balance in capital structure (i.e. there should be a capital balance between debt and equity).
3. Ensure efficient use of financial resources with minimal wastage.

Elements of financial management

The four elements of financial management include planning, controlling, organizing (and directing) and decision making. Planning ensures that finances are available at the required time to satisfy organization needs as they arise periodically.

Planning requires that the company draws up short term as well as long term needs. Short term needs include employee remunerations, payment of utilities, purchases and others. Long term needs include opening new outlets or investing in new options. Financial objectives are also defined in planning.

In controlling, the immediate objective is to ensure that financial goals are being achieved. This is done to identify areas that need monitoring and attention within the organization. Controlling seeks to measure efficiency in the use of assets while determining security of these assets. It also entails examining whether all activities undertaken are as per the organizations policies and procedures.

Organizing and directing involves deciding how resources will be allocated having identified the most feasible or viable investment options. Directing ensures that the results of organizing are efficient. Decision making is parallel to planning, organizing, directing and controlling. It allows organizations to choose among available investment options based on specific criteria. Decision making relies on information and mostly relates to issues pertaining financing and investment (Baker & Baker, 2009).

Accepted financial principles and ethical standards

Generally accepted accounting principles include competency, integrity, objectivity and confidentiality. Financial management calls for integrity in terms of honesty and accuracy in disclosure of financial reports.

This implies that professional responsibilities must be carried out without prejudice. Confidentiality means that employees should maintain confidential information and should not disclose any information unless legally required to. Competency is with respect to professional skills and knowledge required to execute financial processes effectively.

Professional duties must be executed while exercising technical, legal and regulatory measures. Furthermore, personnel must be continuously trained to sharpen their skills in the relevant knowledge area (which is financial management). Objectivity calls for responsibility to present reports fairly and objectively while disclosing financial information fully to relevant stakeholders. Objectivity is supported by factual evidence.

Financial ethical standards are vital in guarding a company from financial mismanagement issues. Independence should be observed by employees by ensuring that they are unbiased, objective and display impartiality in all forms of financial reporting. Activities undertaken must not be subjected to managerial pressures which may negatively affect financial management.

Conflict of interest and dealing in deceptive investments should equally be avoided. Financial ethics calls for adherence to regulations established within the financial markets. Financial responsibilities should be carried out with diligence, care and professional competence.

Examples of ethical standards of conduct (from real entities)

Several companies have upheld ethical standards in their financial dealings. Lenovo is one such firm which has drafted and enforced ethics and integrity in the workplace, accuracy of business records and rules pertaining to insider trading and conflict of interest. They have defined financial obligations to comply with laws and regulations, engage in honesty in contracting, fair competition and protection of privacy.

Lenovos management reveres integrity which in turn is replicated by employees. Amazon has defined its corporate governance by incorporating aspects of insider trading, conflict of interest, record keeping, reporting and financial integrity. Microsoft has equally enforced a standard of financial ethics that ensures employees exercise integrity and compliance in their duties (Code of Conduct, 2008).

Lenovo is a success story that depicts the need to incorporate financial standards in an organization for the purpose of ensuring productivity and efficiency in company processes. This provides employees with a proper understanding of the need to exercise acceptable financial ethics and follow guidelines provided in policies and procedures. As a result, the work force feels involved and growth is inevitable.

Amazons policies reflect the need for conformity to laws and applicable rules. It ensures that internal controls within the company are consistently monitored thereby eliminating the possibility of financial disclosure issues. This ensures reporting reflects a true and fair position of the firm. Employees of Amazon cooperate with set procedures religiously.

Conclusion

In conclusion, organizations must work towards inculcating ethics and acceptable morals in employees to strengthen adherence to set codes of conduct. This ensures that employees exercise responsibility in their dealings with the company. Companies must specify codes and ethics of conduct to govern employee behavior. They should also carry out frequent compliance checks to keep financial management employees on their toes.

References

Baker, J. & Baker, R.W. (2009). Health Care Finance. London, United Kingdom: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

Code of Conduct: Ethics in our New World Company. (2011). Web.

Introduction

The healthcare industry is the most important in the economy since it deals directly with the lives of the citizens. This means that the elements of ethical considerations and moral obligations are very important in the industry. The success of the industry depends on the ability of the various stakeholders to ensure that ethical considerations and moral obligations are given priority in the industry.

This objective can only be achieved if the firms in the healthcare industry are able to recruit and retain talented and creative employees. Thus human capital management has become a fundamental function in most healthcare organizations especially in the US market that is characterized by clients who are more concerned with quality and value for their money.

Human capital relates to the assessment of the human resources that are at the disposal of an organization. Human capital management considers the skills, experiences, motivation and aspiration of the employees as the most important assets in an organization. Thus organizations must be in a position to invest in the development of these assets and ensure that their workforce use them for the benefit of the organization.

This paper will focus on the value of human capital management. The meaning of human capital, the strategies that firms are using to develop their human capital and the drivers of human capital will be illuminated in light of the US healthcare industry.

Strategies for Developing Human Capital in Order to be Competitive

Having realized the value that employees add to the competitiveness of businesses, healthcare organizations are currently focusing on strategies that can help them to retain the best talent in the industry. Consequently, a variety of strategies and policies have been formulated and implemented by various organizations. These strategies include the following.

Development Strategies

Development strategies relates to the efforts that are made by an organization to improve the competence of its employees. Improving the competence of the employees is mainly done through continuous training and education. Even though most organizations focus on introducing the training programs, the methods that they use vary from one organization to the other.

Some firms have implemented a comprehensive development program that also caters for the training costs. Such organizations use their own facilities to train their employees instead of contracting third party organizations to offer the training services. The comprehensive programs have been the most successful in the development of human capital due to two reasons.

First, all employees have the opportunity to access the training services since the financial constrain have been eliminated. Second, it leads to the desired outcomes due to the fact that the training is done in accordance to the technical needs of the organization. Some organizations have adopted partial development programs due to their limited financial capabilities.

In this case, the employees are given incentives such as study loans and study leaves in order to pursue various courses that are related to their roles. This strategy has not been very successful since the employees always go for training that fulfill their needs instead of the technical needs of the organizations. The human development programs have helped to improve the competence of the employees.

Job Satisfaction in the Workforce and the Role of Stress Audits

Job satisfaction relates to employees attitudes towards their work. The level of job satisfaction has a direct impact on the performance of the employees and the organization has a whole. The performance of the employees will be high if they are satisfied with their jobs. Thus healthcare organizations are using incentives to motivate their employees.

Besides, they are investing in acceptable work environment in order to retain their employees. Stress audits relates to the process of monitoring the stress levels among the employees. Such audits enable the organizations to formulate strategies that can be used to help the employees to manage work related stress. High levels of job satisfaction among employees lead to better performance in the organization.

Employee Retention Programs

Employee retention programs are concerned with the ability of firms to reduce employee turnover by offering the most competitive and acceptable work environment. These are incentive-based programs that are used by employers to reward top performance in their workforce. Employees tend to be more committed to their work if they believe that their efforts are recognized and rewarded accordingly by their employer.

This has prompted organizations to adopt acceptable performance appraisal systems in order to eliminate bias in the process of evaluating the performance of employees. Effective retention programs enable employers to avoid losing their valuable employees to their competitors.

Safety and Management of Behavioral Risks

Safety and behavioral risks influence the quality of human capital in two ways. First, the safety of the employees influences their performance. The employee will be more productive if they are not exposed to health related risks such as contracting diseases that are prevalent at the workplace.

Second, the behavior of employees such as substance abuse affects their health. In the healthcare industry, the employees have to be healthy in order to avoid infecting their patients. Thus the performance of the workforce will only be high if safety measures have been put in place. The performance will also improve if behavior change programs succeed in promoting the physical wellness of the employees.

The Meaning of Human Capital Management in the Industry

The firms in the industry believe that effective management of their human capital is the key to success. Thus human capital management in the US healthcare industry is considered to be the combination of all those process that involve the acquisition and retention of talent. Even though there are other factors that contribute to the competitiveness of healthcare organizations, human capital has been distinguished as the most influential on the performance of the firms.

Human capital is the most important success factor in the industry since the knowledge, attitude and skills of the workforce determines the patient outcomes and hence the quality of services. This means that it is the ideas and the contributions that employees make in their organizations that determine the overall performance.

It is not the amount of financial capital or health equipment that really improves the competitiveness of the healthcare organizations. Thus strategic talent acquisitions have become the main trend in the industry. This means that healthcare organizations are investing a high percentage of their resources in recruiting and retaining talented employees.

Human capital management has thus become the major tool for creating competitive advantages in the industry. This explains the value of the human capital in the healthcare industry.

The Human Capital Drivers in the Industry

Innovation

Innovation refers to the process through which new ideas or techniques are introduced in health care organizations in order to improve their competitiveness. Health care organizations will be able to facilitate innovation by employing talented individuals. The process of innovation can focus on the products or the processes of producing the products.

Product innovation aims at introducing new product that satisfies the specific needs of the clients. Thus it enables the firms to increase their revenues. Process innovation on the other hand aims at improving the efficiency of the firms in regard to the provision of their services. This means that it facilitates cost reduction and improvement of the quality of services. Innovation can be disruptive or non-disruptive.

Disruptive innovation usually replaces the existing system and creates more value to the owners of the health care organizations. Non-disruptive innovation on the other hand focuses on improving the existing system with the aim of solving a particular problem. Thus organizations that embark on appropriate innovation will be able to improve their competitive advantages in the industry.

Research and Development

Research and development relates to the process through which health care organizations conduct various studies on their products, processes and the industry in order to improve their competitiveness. In the context of human capital management, it focuses on the skills and knowledge of the employees. It is the driving force behind innovation because its findings inform the development of new products and strategies for offering services.

Health care organizations will be able to formulate effective marketing plans if they conduct research on their markets and industry. They will also be able to develop the right products by researching on the needs of the clients. For example, they can be able to develop more effective and cheap treatment methods through research and development. Therefore research and development has a positive impact on the competitiveness of health care firms.

Patient Outcomes

Patient outcomes refer to the result of the treatment process. It helps in evaluating the success or the effectiveness of the treatment services that are offered by health care organizations. Patient outcomes can be indicated by the readmission rates and the physical wellness of the patients after being discharged.

It determines the sales of health care organizations since the clients will only be loyal if they are able to realize positive outcomes. Consequently, the organizations are focusing on improving the competence of their physicians through training in order to ensure positive patient outcomes.

Response time

Response time relates to the time devoted to service delivery and how fast the clients are able to access the services. The clients usually prefer an efficient organization that is capable of responding to their needs immediately. Consequently, most firms have invested in communication technologies that enable the physicians to share information with their colleagues and the clients efficiently.

This enables the nurses to have more time to care for the patients in order to realize the expected patient outcomes. Thus health care organizations will be able to improve their competitiveness by focusing on rapid response time.

Quality of Customer Services

The quality of customer services determines the level of the clients satisfaction especially in the health care industry. Customers are usually concerned with the quality of services and will only visit a hospital if the value for their money is guaranteed. They also prefer health organizations that are able to respond effectively to their enquiries.

Thus health care organizations are investing on training programs in order to equip their employees with the best skills for offering customer services. The competitiveness of the firm will improve as the quality of customer services improve.

Evidence in Support of the Value of Human Capital Management

The value of human capital management can be explained by the following trends. First, due to the increasing demand for talent in the industry, healthcare organizations are becoming more innovative in recruiting their employees. Unlike in the past when physicians used to search for potential employers, healthcare organizations are currently sending their employees to teach in universities with the aim of identifying and recruiting talented students.

Second, the supply of talented physicians has not been able to match the demand in the industry in the last ten years. Consequently, healthcare firms have only survived due to the implementation of effective human capital management strategies. Third, the market value of most healthcare firms is measured in terms of intangible assets such as relationships, partnerships and creativity.

The development of these assets depends on the availability of talent. This means that healthcare organizations can not acquire the above mentioned assets if they do not focus on effective human capital management principles. Finally, the quality of services is the main success factor in the healthcare industry.

The quality of services on the other hand depends on the competence of the employees. The competence of the employees can only be improved if human capital management strategies that focus on skills, education and knowledge have been put in place.

Conclusion

Human capital management focuses on the development human resources in terms of the employees skills, knowledge, experience and education. Thus human capital management is used by organizations to create competitive advantages in the market by maximizing the potentials of their employees.

In order to achieve this objective, firms have implemented training programs, incentive programs and diversity programs. The main drivers of human capital in the healthcare industry include employee retention programs, development strategies and job satisfaction. Human capital management is the most important management function in healthcare organizations due to the evidences that have been discussed above.

References

Hart, K. (2006). Human capital management: implications for healthcare leaders. Nursing Economics, vol. 21 (2) , 94-115.

Jeffrey, G. (2010). Executive leadership development in US healthcare management. Journal of Healthcare Management, vol. 23 (1) , 102-161.

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Kakoli, R., Zhuo, C., & Gotway, C. (2009). Economic perspective on strategic human capital management and planning for the centers for disease control and prevention. Journal of Public Health Mangement and Practice, vol. 15 (6) , 79-89.

Noether, M. (2002). Competition among hospitals. Journal of Health Economics, vol. 7 (3) , 259-284.

Tyson, S. (2006). The contribution of HRM to organizational performance. Essentials of Human Resources, vol. 15 (1) , 447-450.

Walsh, K., Robin, C., & Starman, M. (2008). The value of human capital: specific versus transferability. Journal of Management, Vol. 34 (2) , 290-316.

Wright, p., Donford, B., & Stell, S. (2001). Human resources and the resource based view of the firm. Journal of Management, vol. 27 (6) , 701-721.

Definition and drivers

Organizational resources usually contribute a lot towards the overall success and performance of an industry, and it therefore becomes important for experts participating within an industry to manage these resources with a lot of care. Resources within an industry can include money, technology and even human beings.

It therefore important to know the general output within an industry or within organizations themselves will depend on how well leadership can manipulate and manage these results to achieve overall industry and organizational success (Schuler & Jackson 1999).

Human resources are definitely the most important resources to any organization since they use their skill to control all other organizational resources with the sole aim of optimizing their use for the best outcome (Breul & Gardner 2004).

Human capital management can be simply defined as strategically planned approaches of managing people who assist the organization/industry achieve its mission and objectives by using their skills.

Human capital management will therefore constantly tackle issues which contribute to the growth and actual development of human capital within an industry. Human resource management is quite complex and therefore in the same way that organizations manage finances and other functional areas it becomes a necessity to also manage human capital (Blair 2007).

Leaders in the American health industry know that ultimately the collective level of skill, talent and abilities of individuals within various organizations and the industry serve as the fulcrum of success of that industry and thus it becomes totally necessary to careful strategies on handling them.

There are many drivers within the American health industry that lead experts into taking the process of human capital management more seriously with close to human capital 20 million individuals who are either directly or indirectly linked to the industry and consequently the absence of human capital management can be disastrous and can eventually affect the impeccable reputation that this industry has gained over time.

The need to manage human capital within the American health industry is particularly very important because of the delicate nature of the industry, which involves dealing with patients and requires that organizations constantly keep checks on human capital to ensure those serving patients are competent enough and capable of treating patients professionally (Breul & Gardner 2004).

For instance, an hospital may decide to blacklist a doctor due to malpractice and therefore consequently the national database of medical professionals will in turn be obligated to make this known to any future prospective employers.

The highly volatile medical environment is usually subjected to technological changes that make treating patients easier and efficient and therefore this often drives hospitals to organize regular seminars whereby individuals such as doctors, morticians, nurses, and technicians can get themselves at par with trends within the industry.

Thus, it has become clearer and apparent that any expenses incurred in the process of training individuals within an organization is considered as an investment, it is because employees are expected to improve on the quality of output and improve the gains that the organization/industry is to realize after training.

Organizations and the overall industry may be driven to strategically manage their human capital because of the need to match skill set of their workforce with various functional departments accurately therefore the need to mange human capital.

Different education levels and also different job descriptions therefore require human resource managers to engage in human capital management with an aim of also ensuring efficient reward systems are put in place.

The future of Human Capital management

With the overall situation in the American health industry constantly changing and the public demanding for better and higher quality medical treatment, it is becomes necessary to effectively manage human capital.

With the use of I.T (information Technology) becoming the pivot of organizational resource management, the industry is expected to merge these technologies with enterprise resource systems to optimize the use of human resources within the organization and industry.

With such systems tightly in place it will become easier for the industry to share records of human capital within the health sector with the aim of improving on the quality of medical healthcare within the United States.

Players within the industry are much aware of the pressure to perform and the expectations that the public have on them and therefore it will become completely necessary to crate regular training programs that will in turn nurture and grow the competence, ability, skill and knowledge of the workforce (Swayne, Duncan & Ginter 2006).

Thus, the players need to undertake probably involve more training, seminars, and workshops that will aim to improve how employees working this sector carry out their day to day activities while serving patients.

In summary, the future of the American health sector will be expected to be more human capital management oriented as the need to measure productivity and improve output will take centre stage.

Furthermore, the need to minimize risks associated with the nature of work and tasks within the American health industry will demand that human capital management efforts be taken a notch higher due to the need to improve the entire health sector.

Recommendations

Although there no perfect human capital management system in the world it becomes quite essential that organizations and industries through various associations strive to continuously push human capital management towards perfection.

Figure 1: Elements that are normally included Human capital management

The leadership within the American health industry should therefore centre their efforts towards improving talent acquisition processes, goal management systems, performance management systems, compensation management systems, learning and development systems, and lastly succession management systems within an organization.

By doing so, the American health system could get an almost perfect human capital management process that will ensure that the workforce is quite happy and this will be reflected to the quality of output that will be observed in the health industry (Swayne, Duncan & Ginter 2006).

Employees make up human capital of an organization and have their own needs and targets which are equally important to them. It is this need and desires that they hold which often motivate their actions and influence the kind of output within their workplaces.

It will as a result become necessary for leadership in the American health industry to take into account such factors while dealing with each and every employee.

Because the kind of services delivered by medical professionals and health officials are quite complex and critical to the development of a nation, it hence becomes important for human capital managers to come up with systems that will be able to pinpoint areas of weaknesses together with other attributes such as goals and attempt to respond to them.

The more human capital management moves from being collective in nature and becoming more individualistic then the more likely the human resource managers are to discover the queries that they may have overlooked previously because they thought they were too personal.

Somehow it can be held that individual opinions and preferences of the workforce are more likely to affect the nature of their output. Abraham Maslow, a motivation guru, made it clear that sometimes individuals are inspired by more individualistic motives such as ego and actualization.

It will therefore be important for leadership to identify such motives within the industry and take care of them to increase the quality of output from employees.

It is also necessary that leaders within this industry to use rigorous techniques that will rediscover true talent and appropriately filter therefore selecting the most appropriate individuals into the industry.

By forming various mechanisms to retain the best of human capital then the organizations will be able to smoothly afford the hustle of entering into employee replacement process and therefore save on costs and ensure smooth delivery of services enhancing the quality of health services (Baron & Armstrong 2007).

After acquiring the needed talent and retaining employees continuous training and development programmes that are in tune with the current medical environment should be organized to ensure that the levels of competency, skill and knowledge is at an all time high within the industry and organizations (Breul & Gardner 2004).

In addition, a more accurate compensation system that is more reflective on the nature of tasks and job description should be awarded.

Also it is necessary for the management within the health industry to treat human capital with utmost professionalism by using radical and outstanding human capital management strategies that will optimize their performance and quality of output.

References

Baron, A. & Armstrong, M. (2007). Human capital management: Achieving added value through people. London: Kogan Page Publishers.

Blair, J. D. (2007). Strategic Thinking & Entrepreneurial Action in the Health Care. Industry. Boston: Emerald Group Publishing.

Breul, J. D. & Gardner, N. W. (2004). Human Capital 2004. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.

Schuler. R. S. & Jackson, S. (1999). Strategic human resource management. New York: Wiley-Blackwell.

Swayne, L., Duncan, W. & Ginter, P. (2006). Strategic management of health care organizations Edition 5. New York: Wiley-Blackwell.

Definition of human capital management

Human capital can be described as individual and collective human resources that are responsible for the achievement of an organizations objectives. Human resources are an integral part of every organization and without this, progress can not be ascertained. Human capital management is the process of recruiting, developing and retraining highly qualified individuals to carry out the organizations objectives.

Human resources have been explained by scholars as one of the factors of production, besides land and capital. Human capital is particularly important in the healthcare industry in order to deliver the key service to all Americans (Sultz & Young 2010).

The main aim of any human resources department is to attract and retain highly competent individuals and develop them through valid experience. When combined, employee and patient satisfaction are likely to lead to organizational success.

An efficient service is that which brings satisfaction to both the client and the service provider. Healthcare personnel are trained to restore well being in their patients. Some of the determinants that could exhibit the effectiveness and efficiency of the service awarded could include the patients well being and lack of complaints about the delivery of the service.

A good healthcare service improves patient health and provides personnel with the experience required to sort out similar events in the future. The passing of the recent healthcare bill means that more people will be able to seek quality treatment from US hospitals, thereby creating a need for hospitals to improve on their human capital in order to deal with the increased patient capacity.

Issues pertaining importance of human capital in health sector

Most organizations face internal pressure to increase productivity and improve value to all stakeholders. Thus, the top management has to seek ways of improving financial performance and output for this purpose, forcing human resources executives to focus on a business approach biased towards the organization.

The most common practice of improving performance is by cutting down on administrative expenses so as to improve on operating efficiency. However, more and more organizations, such as those in the health care industry, have seen the need to invest in their human capital in order to better performance, increase revenue and deal with rising competition.

External pressure is also building up for health care organizations to publicly report investments made in people. Health care is a highly sensitive service, thus constant quality checks are inherent in the health care industry. Health providers have to invest in qualified personnel in order to cope with government regulations and industry requirements.

Activist groups and non governmental organizations are intensifying their lobbying campaigns for organizations to be more responsive to the high unemployment rates in the US, with health care organizations being asked to increase their uptake of young interns.

The healthcare industry is constantly changing due to the changes being made in the technical world. New inventions in terms of machinery, techniques and medicines have made healthcare services easier for the practitioners, but have also led to job cuts.

Adequate training is required so that the employees can operate and interpret the results from the newly implemented technologies. Improving technology has facilitated the growth of software packages that measure and manage human capital in organizations.

Managing people is one of the most challenging tasks to accomplish in the healthcare industry. This is a challenge faced by most health care providers. The health care industry is under more scrutiny due to the escalating costs which have left most Americans without health care coverage (Plunkett 2008). Health care have of late come under more pressure to improve substandard services offered to most Americans, and this can be done by improving the quality of personnel in the industry.

The government is known to be the largest and effective employer in the US health care industry. Most employees look forward to working in the private sector since it has better pay and benefits, as opposed to the public sector (na 2005). The private sector is using such incentives to attract quality staff, which could also explain why the private sector is seen to offer better health care services than public hospitals. Competition within the private sector has also helped to escalate prices for quality staff, better services and overall improved human capital.

Several metrics have been formulated that seek to measure the value of human capital in organizations. The metrics are especially useful for labor intensive industries, such as the health care organizations. The revenue factor is most widely used form of measurement as managers evaluate income derived by its labor force.

One method of measuring the revenue from employees is by calculating the revenue and benefit streams that the employer or organization stands to gain by optimizing its human capital. Although such results cannot be accurately established, expected benefits are a good basis for the calculation, as determined by market forces (Musgrave 2006). The revenue factor links the income derived by an organization to the employees, therefore indicating the productivity of the employees.

Human capital in the healthcare industry can also be measured by the amount of investment made in the individuals. An employees stock of skills and capabilities is usually the resultant of investments and costs incurred during his or her life, and are influenced by a number of factors. Such factors include the employees themselves, investments made by their parents, the government and past employers.

The government could contribute through its education system, and public social and health services. Employers invest in employees by providing them with on-job training, experience and other staff development costs. Therefore, human capital will be the present value of the sum of expenditures incurred by the individual and his parents, costs incurred by the current and past employers and expenses incurred by the federal and state government.

As human capital has been described as the set of skills, capabilities and attributes that enable an employee to contribute to the organization, the value of those skills, capabilities and attributes inherent in the employee can offer a valid measure of the value of the human capital.

The major challenge that this theory faces is the pricing of the factors that make up human capital as there is no common unit of measurement and hence are not easily available. Capabilities related to the market can be measured by evaluating their impact on the organizations earnings or returns, but such characteristics will not reveal the overall value of human capital.

Impact of human capital on health sector

Investment in human capital in the health care sector will lead to the ultimate welfare services, causing customer satisfaction. Innovative alternative methods of offering health services are also developed as a result of investment in personnel, thereby causing an increase in productivity and quality services.

Implemented policies that offer equal opportunities for all staff are a key factor in ensuring that quality services are maintained since all personnel will access experience required to better their performance levels.

Supply of labor is usually influenced by market forces. People are likely to take up job offerings that promise higher salaries and benefits, as evidenced by the rising numbers of people who opt for jobs in the private sector over the public sector. Regional imbalances in terms of income have meant that practitioners prefer working in a high income state such as New Jersey over Mississippi.

Conclusion

Investment in human capital for any organization will most likely improve productivity, and overall satisfaction of the concerned stakeholders. Health workers need to have competent knowledge in health care and must have good diagnostic skills and provide the best patient care possible in order to save lives and improve public welfare. For this to be possible, management in the health care sector should adopt strategies that would ensure that personnel deliver the key service to the sick (Blair 2007).

This means that the management in the industry should have strategic measures that would help in identifying an employees competence, skills and the willingness to work especially when hiring health workers. Human resource managers in the health industry have to find ways of strategizing the workforce and find ways of retaining the workers to avoid shortage of nurses and hospital staff.

With most health care facilities under the management of the private sector, increasing competition has led to escalated costs for these individuals hence the organizations have to formulate strategies that will lead to the retention of highly qualified personnel (Porter & Teisberg 2006).

Human resource managers should put in mind that products are easily mimicked or duplicated in the market, but the same cannot be said about the knowledge, capabilities and skills of employees since they cannot be duplicated. Effective human capital management is necessary for the provision of high quality health care services to the American public (Breul & Gardner 2004).

In the past, organizations simply hired more employees in order to facilitate growth but have since moved from the quantity aspect of human resources to the quality of talent so as to improve productivity.

Health care in the US remains a challenge, with millions of Americans unable to access quality services due to the high costs. A health care facility will be considered to be of good quality if the available services deliver positive health results to the public, and such services should be acceptable and able to bring patient satisfaction.

Both health care providers and health insurance companies face major challenges in their attempt to ensure quality services due to budgetary constraints, lack of a favorable agreement between the stakeholders and the high turnover rates in the health care industry because of growing competition.

There is a clear connection between human capital and ultimate success in the health care sector. The human resources department has the task of identifying motivational factors that directly or indirectly improve on the organizations performance. Human resources remain a health care providers most valuable assets. Improved personnel job satisfaction will enable an organization to meet its retention rates and productivity targets.

Satisfaction can be achieved through empowering employees by allowing them to participate in patient care decisions. A good schedule program with favorable hourly shifts is also likely to please employees since they will not be overworked. A favorable schedule program can be facilitated by having an appropriate doctor or nurse to patient ratio, and this can be done by hiring more physicians at the hospital.

Measurement of performance is crucial for the organization to study the development of its employees, and come up with recognition programs that will increase job satisfaction and motivation in the workplace.

The measures also form an important basis for planning on the organizational structure, as well as from an investment perspective. The organization can be able to ascertain the benefits derived from its investments in its personnel, and establish whether it should continue to invest in human capital in the future.

Through understanding the metrics used to measure and value human capital, the human resources manager can better represent and recommend to top management on issues concerning human capital in the organization.

An organization that records high on various performance metrics is said to command a high quality workforce and able to attract and retain competent physicians who will use their skills and attributes to deliver quality patient care services for the benefit of the organization and all stakeholders. Key performance drivers in the healthcare industry include quality health services, patient satisfaction and welfare of the population and low attrition rates.

References

Blair, J. D. (2007). Strategic Thinking & Entrepreneurial Action in the Health Care. Industry. Boston: Emerald Group Publishing.

Breul, J. D. & Gardner, N. W. (2004). Human Capital 2004. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.

Musgrave, F. W. (2006). The economics of U.S. health care policy: the role of market forces. New York: M.E. Sharpe Publishers.

na. (2005). Human Capital Management: Top Human Resources Executives on Strategies for Success. Boston: Aspatore Books.

Plunkett, J. W. (2008). Plunketts health care industry almanac 2009. Houston: Plunkett Research.

Porter, M. E. & Teisberg, E. O. (2006). Redefining health care: creating value-based competition on results. New York: Harvard Business Press.

Sultz, H. A. & Young, K. M. (2010). Health Care USA: Understanding Its Organization and Delivery. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Nowadays, having a well-developed brand image and strategy defines the ability of the company to maintain the integrity and become one of the market leaders. For the past assignment, I decided to administer the hospital and help it understand key internal and external forces and their critical impact on its competitive edge and positioning among rival firms. It was revealed that the ACA and high demand for medical professionals along with decreasing reimbursement rates not only negatively affected the financial stability of the hospital but also questioned the quality of the provided services, their safety, the satisfaction of patients, and motivation of nurses. To address these issues, it is rational to conduct constant environmental analysis and ensure the relevance of the information while offering a favorable working environment to support the development and growth of employees.

Nonetheless, responding to the changes in the internal and external environment cannot enhance companys positioning solely. Consequently, in the context of this paper, it will be of paramount importance to design mission and vision statements to reflect corporate culture, orientation, and values. At the same time, suggesting an adaptive strategy and designing effective service delivery and support components will have a beneficial impact on the companys image. Lastly, proposing one approach to maintain a chosen adaptive strategy will assist in addressing problems of internal and external environment and reaching its corporate goals.

Mission and Vision Statement

To establish a foundation for discussion, it is of paramount importance to define companys mission and vision statement, as it is the core of the strategy and its corporate culture. To cater to the needs of the population and react to the external and internal fluctuations of the environment, the company has to enhance the quality of the provided services and create a favorable environment for professional growth and development. Thus, these matters can be reflected in the companys mission statement since it defines its current goals and objectives. Based on these aspects, the mission statement can be formulated as The mission of our hospital is to provide high-quality services, satisfy the needs of diverse cultural group, and promote healthy habits and well-being while cherishing all our stakeholders including patients, their families, community, government, non-profit organizations (NGOs), and our beloved employees. Relying on these ideas can assist in resolving the present issues and ensuring integrity in the medical institution.

At the same time, on the contrary to the mission statement, vision presents and describes companys future orientation and development. In the context of the case organization, it can be formulated as We view our organization as one of the competitive providers of healthcare in the recent future, and we want our employees to become more satisfied, inspired, and motivated while enhancing the level of patient satisfaction and supporting continuous financial growth. A combination of these factors shows that the company can understand and highlight the most important features of the internal and external environment. Meanwhile, its key goals are 1) increase customer readmission and satisfaction by 20% and improve inpatient/outpatient ratio by the end of 2018; 2) enhance motivation and satisfaction of employees by 20% by developing relevant schedule and interesting educational programs by the end of 2018; and 3) enlarge market share by 10% by the end of 2018. Overall, it could be said that the goals mentioned above align with the mission and vision statements while complying with all concepts of goal design.

Adaptive Strategy or Their Combination

It could be said that the subsequent step is to propose an effective and sufficient adaptive strategy that will help the hospital reach its organizational goals depicted above. Nowadays, one cannot imagine a successful company or a market frontrunner without an effective strategy that defines all steps of the strategic plan (Boston Consulting Group, 2011). Many businessmen view adaptive strategy as a source of business growth and sustainability while triggering continuous change, innovation, and development (Boston Consulting Group, 2011). The brightest example of the application of the concepts of adaptive strategy is Virgin Group (Boston Consulting Group, 2011). This company was able to create unique value proposition by reacting to the fluctuations of the business environment rapidly and responding to the customers needs with a diversity of product lines. In this instance, it developed a dynamic competitive advantage that helped the company increase its market shares and become a market leader.

In this instance, similarly to Virgin Group and Zara, the hospital can rely on, so called, Sprinter adaptive strategy (Boston Consulting Group, 2011). This approach implies that the company constantly researches the market and discovers the concepts and frameworks of the existent business models, as adapting them enhances the overall competitive advantage and assists in reaching the established organizational goals and objectives (Boston Consulting Group, 2011). When referring to practical examples, Zara developed fast collaboration and interaction between different levels of supply chain, and now, it can rapidly deliver sales data from its shops to the manufacturing unit (Boston Consulting Group, 2011).

It assists in maintaining inventories at the relevant levels, keeping customers satisfied, and rapidly responding to their preferences and choices. It could be said that speed is a defining force in this strategy. In this case, using this method and researching business models employed in the healthcare sector can not only improve the internal environment but also develop sufficient competitive advantage and increase readmission of the patients and their satisfaction. Specifically speaking, the main adjustments may include 1) discovering key trends in healthcare and human resource management (HRM); 2) reviewing scheduling and motivating techniques; and 3) determining the most appropriate inpatient/outpatient ratio to maximize the revenues. Overall, using this strategy will help reach organizational goals and objectives while ensuring their alignment with the mission statement.

Service Delivery and Support Components

It remains apparent that the strategy and its aspects mentioned above define the overall framework that the organization should use to guide its principles and activities. In this instance, it essential to review elements of service delivery system and support components to optimize the process flow in the value chain (Sharan, Schroeder, West, & Vaccaro, 2015). This framework was actively developed and promoted by Michael Porter, who described service delivery system as a complicated mechanism due to the interdependence between activities of different levels (Sharan et al., 2015). In this case, the main processes will include admission, care and service, and discharge. The primary reason for selecting these components is the desire of the company to enhance customer satisfaction while triggering growth and recognition in the market. For example, admission and care form general perception of the patient about the hospital while discharge not only has a dramatic effect on the companys image but also helps control outpatient/inpatient ratio. Only including these components shapes a general framework and can affect satisfaction of the customers in a positive way, and this matter will help reach the most important goals of the hospital while clearly defining its competitive advantage.

Simultaneously, Porter discovers that it is of paramount importance to include supporting elements, as, without them, it will not be possible to offer expected service delivery (Sharan et al., 2015). Generally speaking, they will include HRM, administration and management, and marketing. It remains evident that employees are often discovered as the main assets of the company, as the quality of the provided services and perception of the patients are highly dependent on their competences and actions (Hoeve, Jansen, & Roodbol, 2013). Consequently, improving the working environment and designing the most appropriate schedule will help increase the levels of motivation. Marketing has similar intentions while management ensures the ability of the hospital to reach its organizational goals and objectives. It could be said that these facts not only provide a clear rationale for selecting these elements but also show that they have a strong impact on service delivery. Overall, only including a combination of these components can help the hospital reach its goals and objectives and become a frontrunner of a highly competitive industry while covering satisfaction, motivation, and financial growth, and prosperity.

Suggesting One Approach to Maintain Adaptive Strategy

Nonetheless, having a well-developed adaptive strategy cannot solely guarantee the ability of the organization to reach its corporate goals and objectives. In this instance, along with the development and designing of the value chain, it is pivotal to suggest an approach that can be utilized to maintain the existent adaptive strategy to attain to organizational mission and vision. It could be said that only relying on the well-developed framework of strategies can assist the company in achieving its long-term goals and short-term objectives while successfully responding to internal and external environmental changes.

In the context of the hospital, it will be rational to take advantages of uncertainties of the market, as they can be viewed as continuous sources of development and innovation (Boston Consulting Group, 2011). This strategy will assist the company in becoming sustainable and flexible, as using these concepts can make it develop a dynamic competitive advantage (Boston Consulting Group, 2011). Nonetheless, when using Sprinter adaptive strategy, it will be logical to rely on the approach that implies constant research of the market. In this case, only utilizing this method can help monitor industrial changes continuously and adjust the action plan promptly. A combination of these factors indicates that to support the selected adaptive strategy, it will be essential to devote more resources to R&D and strategic analysis, as only relying on these methods can assist the company in staying competitive in the market by adapting strategies of competitors (Boylan & Turner, 2017). These aspects will make the organization more flexible while adopting only the best practices of the rivals and frontrunners of other industries, as only relying on this approach can help treat with respect all stakeholders. Nonetheless, the hospital has to use its goals as a guideline since, otherwise, it will be impossible to develop a dynamic competitive advantage that will contribute to companys growth, financial development, and customer satisfaction. Overall, relying on research and analysis can help respond to the changes in internal and external environment successfully while ensuring the alignment and achievement of corporate vision and mission.

References

Boston Consulting Group. (2011). Adaptive strategy key to business sustainability. The Korea Times. Web.

Boylan, S., & Turner, K. (2017). Developing organizational adaptability for complex environment. Journal of Leadership Education, 16(2), 183-198.

Hoeve, Y., Jansen, G., & Roodbol, P. (2013). The nursing profession: Public image, self-concept, and professional identity. A discussion paper. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 70(2), 295-309.

Sharan, A., Schroeder, G., West, M., & Vaccaro, A. (2015). Understanding a value chain in healthcare. The Business of Medicine, 28(1), 291-293.

Healthcare firms across the world are struggling to contain huge operating costs and quality issues even though they have hired smart working and well-trained personnel such as clinicians. For healthcare businesses to achieve their goals both in the short and long run, they need a strategy, which is a plan that greatly helps organizations to handle issues in the context of uncertainty (Burns, Bradley & Weiner, 2011). Firms should view strategy as an appropriate tool to enable them to gain a competitive advantage utilizing limited resources. Using strategy, a company can know how it may achieve its goals through specific means, often known as resources. Healthcare organizations should approach strategy from the perspective of businesses that want to achieve the best outcomes in an industry that has several competitors. The management concept contains three key components that are a diagnosis, guiding policy, and action plans. The diagnosis part is what helps managers know what should be improved in the future, while the guiding policy is like a roadmap that clearly explains objectives. Action plans are strategic activities that will be used to achieve goals (Samuelson & Marks, 2011).

Competitive advantage in healthcare means differentiating an entity from the competition or business rivalry in the sector. To stand out in the sector, a healthcare facility should offer the best services and experiences that its rivals cannot match (Burns et al., 2011). For example, a facility may achieve a competitive advantage by offering several services in a physical location, implying that patients will not move from one location to another in search of care (Burns et al., 2011; Thomas, 2017). Some of the services that can be offered in the same location include massage, pharmacy, wellness programs, chiropractic, as well as superior care.

References

1. Burns, L., Bradley, E., & Weiner, B. (2011). Shortell and Kaluznys healthcare management: Organization design and behavior. New York, NY: Cengage Learning.
2. Samuelson, W. F., & Marks, S. G. (2008). Managerial economics (7th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
3. Thomas, P. (2017). Integrating primary healthcare: Leading, managing, facilitating. New York, NY: CRC Press.

The data management problem in the healthcare industry is one of the most urgent issues because it affects the quality of the treatment as well as the daily work of different healthcare organizations. The process of operating the necessary data is influential for resolving the questions of the patients care and organizations activities, and even for handling the financial issues.

The problem is in the fact that the computer software for managing the data and the used databases are not effective today because of the necessity to operate significant amounts of the information and share it with different healthcare providers.

Utilizing different systems, programs, and software, healthcare providers cannot receive the access to the required information. Moreover, the ineffective databases can provide the unauthorized access to the confidential data, but there are no possibilities for physicians to receive the important information on the definite case in time because of the systems weaknesses.

Thus, the problem related to the data management in the healthcare industry is controversial and requires the effective solution. There are several possible variants to resolve the problematic situation which are the modernization of the industry with references to the modern IT devices and implementation of electronic health records, health information exchanges, and national data repositories.

The data management problem should be resolved basing on developing the IT system used in the healthcare organizations. It is significant to provide the single approach to collecting, managing, and preserving the data with the possibility to share it with the healthcare providers. That is why, the implemented technologies should be interoperable.

Moreover, researchers pay attention to the fact that the usage of only one approach to solving the data management problem can be ineffective, and the orientation to the complex procedure is more advantageous (Hillestad et al., 2005).

The usage of the electronic health records and health information exchanges with the help of which it is possible to operate the data on patients, healthcare providers, and pharmaceutical companies is the approved initiative to resolve the data management problem (Data management, 2012).

Electronic health records are based on collecting and managing the data according to the definite standards, and homogeneous sources of the data provide different healthcare organizations with the possibilities to use them effectively (Khosrow-Pour, 2006).

Today, different healthcare organizations try to use the systems of electronic health records in order to optimize the data management process. The challenges experienced by these organizations are connected with using different proprietary systems and rather heterogeneous sources of the information (Khosrow-Pour, 2006).

That is why, the process of sharing the data becomes complicated. It is necessary to use similar systems of electronic health records in order to provide the effective work of the whole system. However, there are a lot of organizations which have different levels in operating IT for their needs.

Furthermore, there are many organizations which use different systems and programs to prevent the unauthorized access to the information and its modification and to follow the principles of confidentiality (Khosrow-Pour, 2006). Nevertheless, these programs cannot be discussed as the single system shared by different healthcare providers.

Healthcare providers need the appropriate and timely access to the necessary data which can be collected in any organization or department within the industry. Thus, when a patient enters the hospital his personal data are fixed, the particular features of treatment and procedures are recorded, all the necessary information is preserved in the system, and it can be accessed by physicians and shared with different healthcare providers when it is necessary (Khosrow-Pour, 2006).

The orientation to using the electronic health records and health information exchanges along with the possibilities to refer to the national data repositories can resolve the data management problem and improve the system of sharing the necessary information.

The system of electronic health records can work effectively and respond to the necessity to have the integrated and shared data when all the information is collected according to the definite standards, and only one system is used and accessible for each healthcare organization within the industry (Hillestad et al., 2005). The national data repositories can be based on the national sources of data which are regularly collected and registered.

The provision of the access to these sources for the healthcare organizations is necessary to complete the cycle of sharing and integrating the data within the industry. Health information exchanges are in the process of development, and they will be associated with the system of electronic health records. The main task is to provide the healthcare organizations with the necessary tools and information technologies to support the program.

The implementation of electronic health records, health information exchanges, and national data repositories in complex can be discussed as the effective method to resolve the data management problem with references to the issues of operating patients and physicians portfolios, integrating and sharing the data.

To realize this strategy, it is important to pay attention to the definite governments regulations and make the healthcare providers adopt the same standards and rules in relation to using the information technologies, resolving the problem of funding these programs.

References

Data management in the healthcare industry. (2012). Web.

Hillestad, R., Bigelow, J., Bower, A., Girosi, F., Meili, R., Scoville, R., & Taylor, R. (2005). Can electronic medical record systems transform health care? Potential health benefits, savings, and costs. Web.

Khosrow-Pour, M. (2006). Emerging trends and challenges in information technology management. USA: Idea Group Pub.

Leadership within any organization plays a crucial role in the efficiency of work, high productivity, employees satisfaction level, quality of the provided services, and organizations development. Careful assessment of the business practices, of the core elements of the operations, and the team members offers guidelines for the strategies that the organization can undertake to improve the quality of service. The purpose of this paper is to conduct a thorough analysis of a patient and family care facility, to identify its strengths and weaknesses, to analyze the team, and to provide strategic alternatives for improvement.

Business Practices

The healthcare sector is a complex organism that is full of complicated processes. The first thing that comes to mind when healthcare facilities are mentioned is about doctors, nurses, and patients. However, it goes beyond that, because healthcare has the business side that requires careful management and people who have expertise in such fields as budgeting, human resources, information technologies, and more (Stoltz, 2017). Having professionals in those areas is beneficial for the organizations, and with the implementation of proper business practices, the improvements would come.

Different organizations implement various practices and activities intending to make the work within the team more efficient and the patients more satisfied. In the modern world, it is crucial to implement suitable information technology usage and integrate programs that can be helpful for both the staff and the patients. Providing proper team member training is significant for successful work. Leaders need to remember that the members of staff are the front face of the facility, and it is fundamental to train them properly to deliver high-quality service. Another critical part of healthcare organizations is to encourage a care-oriented environment (Infinity Research, 2018). Keeping your staff aware of the patients record, small things like a smile or a greeting by name, and even active listening can bring positive results.

Patient education is one more business practice that healthcare organizations should strive to integrate. Providing necessary information and educating the clients of healthcare organizations can create a unique service, which will generate positive feedback and improve the overall performance of the facility (Infinity research, 2018). Patients who have basic knowledge of the problem, who know how the system is working, and are aware of the algorithm of procedures are more likely to express positive attitudes to staff members.

The implementation of various business practices with the aim of the development of the healthcare organization is a process that requires financial investments and investments in time and human resources. The resources can be limited, which might impose additional challenges for the facility. Consequently, it is crucial to have a strategy that will integrate business practices in the most efficient way for a specific healthcare facility.

Patient and Family Centered Care Tool (PFCC)

Setting Description

The table below describes the significant strengths and weaknesses in the domains, which will help to identify further areas that require improvement.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Organization

Area of Improvement

The areas that require improvement within this specific patient/family care centered organizations are personnel education, charting and documentation control, and leadership style. Educating employees on how to work with new equipment and electronic databases, and how to construct a conversation with patients is crucial. New technologies introduce original documentation and patient record system, and it is vital to make it as efficient as possible, which requires proper training within this area as well. Another essential issue is combining different leadership styles because a smart mix of various traits can produce positive outcomes. Besides major areas for improvement, it is necessary to look at the organization in general and implement the system change.

Improvement Strategy

The section above identified the areas of improvement for the assessed healthcare organization. In more detail, the suggested strategies include changing the systems hardware and software, developing a unique organizational culture, and investing in further education and training of the professionals. Restructuring the working process within the facility, using software programs that help to have detailed and accessible at any time patients records, is a major enhancement. Modifying the leadership style will contribute to the creation of the workplace culture, which will produce more of the ideas and solutions.

New software implementation, in turn, requires thorough training of the personnel. Besides advanced technology training, this healthcare organization requires additional courses and seminars for the members of the team, directed at the attitudes towards patients and care about them (Braithwaite, 2018). The combination of those strategies can lift the analyzed facility to the next level.

System or Change Theory

The primary aspect of the proposed improvement strategy is based on the system model of change. Without any doubt, specific changes should be implemented in separate areas of the facility, like personnel professionalism, the order in the documentation, and change in leadership style. However, it is crucial to look at patient/family care centered facility as at one organism, in which separate fixing of details would not significantly change the picture. As the system models of change suggest, they are people, culture, task, technology, design, strategy (Juneja, 2015). Consequently, when one of the variables goes through change, it influences the other parts as well. Implementing the improvements throughout the whole organization, instead of trying to fix the pieces is more effective for healthcare organizations.

Consequently, within the analyzed healthcare facility, crucial changes will be implemented in the people, culture, and technology areas, which will result in a favorable impact on the other aspects of the organization. Adjusting the leadership style will focus on people within the facility, while additional education techniques for the personnel will focus on creating a positive culture among the professionals and patients. Integrating new software and innovative technologies will emphasize the technological development of the organization. Simultaneously, other areas within this healthcare facility will experience a change under the influence on the described parts.

Financial Implications

Every improvement strategy requires financial investments and specific work done. The major expenses for the suggested improvement strategies will lie down in implementing more of information technologies into the working process, and thus, making the operations automated where possible. Training and additional education for the personnel will also require financial costs. Those two major areas need the most significant changes for this specific patient/family care facility. However, it is crucial to keep in mind that those changes serve as improvements for future operations and can increase the financial assets of the organization in the long-term.

Budgetary expenditures for the automatization of the documentation process and the training of employees will justify themselves. They will provide a better experience for the patients, leading to the progress in the overall performance.

Methods

A suitable method for the implementation of the suggested improvements can be the 5S methodology. The 5S approach helps the organization to change for the better and allows the enhancement of efficiency and productivity (Patel & Thakkar, 2014, p. 774). The five steps are: sort, strengthen, shine, standardize, and sustain (Patel & Thakkar, 2014). First, it is important to identify the pieces that are unnecessary and eliminate them. Maintaining positive and beneficial aspects is the next stage of the improvement process. After that, it is crucial to make sure that the working space is clean, which is essential for the healthcare organization.

Creating clear standards for the personnel to maintain the changes and keep track of the working operations goes next. The final step of the 5S method would be following the rules, sticking to the necessary activities, and sustaining the improvements (Patel & Thakkar, 2014). This type of methodology is a clear and detailed guide for the integration of the improvement strategy within the patient/family care facility.

Multidisciplinary Team

Collaborative work of the members of the multidisciplinary team plays a significant role in the implementation of the improvement strategy for the healthcare organization. The table above lists some of group members, who are the representatives of the area that will undergo essential changes. For instance, Brian, as the chief of staff, will adopt new leadership styles and will integrate them into the working process and into empowering the employees.

The human resource manager will work on the employees adaptation to the improvement strategy. The head of the IT department will have to thoroughly observe and control the new technological implementations and supervise the employees training in this area. Hence, each of those team members needs to focus on the specific area of improvement. However, at the same time, they should work together to achieve greater results.

Team Diversity

The team is a critical element in the operations of every healthcare organization. Canadian Collaborative Team Initiative identified diverse groups as those that comprise members of different healthcare professions collaborating on service delivery and decision making (Mitchel et al., 2015, p. 218). The healthcare organization discussed in this paper is an excellent example of a diverse team and the challenges that interprofessional teams impose. Team diversity brings more insights to the emerging problems, and with proper leadership, helps to come up with a practical solution, rather than be uncertain about the situation.

However, there are still many burdens because knowledge sharing in the healthcare industry might be problematic across professional fields. Leader inclusiveness plays a crucial role to help overcome those burdens. Analysis of different opinions and reflection on them, and uniting it into one general idea during team interactions is a challenging task for a leader (Mitchel et al., 2015). Nevertheless, encouraging team diversity and the ability to work with it can contribute to the excellence of the team.

Leadership Theories

A leadership type chosen for a specific organization is integral for the working environment and all the crucial parts of the operations. Even though leadership is something intangible and cannot be seen, the efficiency of work and the patients experiences highly depend on it. For instance, servant leadership suggests that if one is a true leader, this person should position themselves as a servant. Servant leadership values care for other members of the team, sets ethical behavioral examples, and believes that proper attitudes encourage passion in others. Demonstrating proper care is a crucial element of servant leadership.

Empowering the team members and building trust within the team, sharing power, and creating safe space are the characteristics of servant leadership and are irreplaceable practices for healthcare organizations (Frey, 2018). Implementation of the parts of this leadership theory into healthcare management practices can produce favorable results for the organization.

Transformational leadership is one more theory that can be applied in the clinical industry. According to Kumar and Khiljee (2016), transformational leadership implies that people will follow a leader who inspires them through vision, passion, and enthusiasm (p. 64). The researchers also suggest that transformational leaders can encourage the change and that they can put their own interested below the reformation of the healthcare organization. Besides, the adherents of this leadership style realize that there is a need for improvement, and instead of finding the ways to overcome this need, they deal with it (Kumar & Khiljee, 2016). Therefore, along with servant leadership, participative leadership is a good fit for healthcare management for this organization.

One can argue that the combination of the servant and transformational leadership styles is a perfect fit for the improvement of the analyzed healthcare facility. Firstly, as far as transformational leaders encourage the change and realize the need for enhancements, it would be crucial for this specific organization chief of staff to adapt this styles traits. Servant leaders, in turn, focus on the caring aspect of the work environment. The analyzed facility requires improvements in the workplace culture and additional training for the employees attitudes, and integrating some of the traits of this leadership style will have a positive effect. Therefore, implementing the key features of the servant and transformational leadership will lift facilitate the improvement process for this patient/family care organization.

Implementation of Strategy

The sections above describe the areas of improvement, the chosen strategies, and the methodology that will be used for this specific patient/family care facility. The implementation of the improvement strategy is a time and money consuming process. The estimated period for the changes can take up to several months. Based on the 5S methodology, focusing on the specific areas and carefully following the steps can make the implementation process smooth. Consequently, integrating new strategies into the organization should not be underestimated and treated with passion and enthusiasm.

Communication to Organization

It is crucial to choose the right way of presenting the change to the team members and the organization in general. Organizing a staff meeting is the first step in implementing the changes. Many questions can emerge throughout the presentation of future change. The leaders should be fully prepared for that and should make sure that their subordinates understand that the improvements will influence everyone in a positive way, including leaders themselves. Besides the meeting, another way of communicating the changes to the professionals will be a prior notice and the list of thorough guidelines that underline the responsibilities for each member.

It is a time-consuming process, but the employees must get the perspective of what will change and what is required from their side. Also, scheduling one-on-one meetings of the subordinates with the leaders of the departments will simplify the team members understanding of the improvements implementation. Thus, successful communication of the agenda to the organizations is a challenging but achievable process.

Tools for the Team

Suggested strategies for improvement imply specific tools, or guidelines, for the team members. Besides tangible items, like new gadgets that support new integrated software, there will be intangible tools that make an emphasis on restructuring the work of the facility.

Among those, there are lectures followed by full-day workshops, where personnel members can apply new methods in practice. It can be useful to collaborate with the leaders of other healthcare facilities because a higher number of insights can create more exceptional results. Another helpful tool is creating interprofessional teams that include patient representatives for workshops to test new strategies, evaluate them and see if all of the new methods fit within the organization (LavoieTremblay, 2015). Therefore, the tools for the team have an intangible nature, mostly focusing on practice and experience.

A crucial tool for the team is self-assessment, and it has been identified as a key aspect of professionalism (Gremigni, Casu, and Sommaruga, 2016, p. 1047). The analyzed healthcare facility members will go through various questionnaires that will aim to identify personal competencies and aspects that require attention. Also, the self-evaluation tool will help to determine the responsibilities of the employees throughout the improvement strategy implementation and to analyze their performance and the perception of change (Gremigni et al., 2016).

Moreover, implementing interviews with team members and peer evaluation can be useful tools for the team as well. The combination of different techniques and adequate attention to self-assessment results will help to integrate the change smoothly and evaluate its results.

References

Braithwaite, J. (2018). Changing how we think about healthcare improvement. BMJ, 361, k2014.

Gremigni, P., Casu, G., & Sommaruga, M. (2016). Dealing with patients in healthcare: A self-assessment tool. Patient Education and Counseling, 99(6), 10461053. Web.

Frey, S. (2018). An overview of leadership principles and theories. Web.

Infinity Research. (2018). Eight best practices to improve patient care in the healthcare industry: Infiniti Research. Web.

Juneja, P. (2015). Systems model of change management and continuous change process model. Web.

Kumar, R. D., & Khiljee, N. (2016). Leadership in healthcare. Anaesthesia & Intensive Care Medicine, 17(1), 63-65.

LavoieTremblay, M., OConnor, P., Lavigne, G. L., Briand, A., Biron, A., Baillargeon, S.,& Cyr, G. (2015). Effective strategies to spread redesigning care processes among healthcare teams. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 47(4), 328-337.

Mitchell, R., Boyle, B., Parker, V., Giles, M., Chiang, V., & Joyce, P. (2015). Managing inclusiveness and diversity in teams: How leader inclusiveness affects performance through status and team identity. Human Resource Management, 54(2), 217-239.

Patel, V. C., & Thakkar, H. (2014). Review on implementation of 5S in various organization. International Journal of Engineering Research and Applications, 4(3), 774-779.

Stoltz, M. H. (2017). The business side of healthcare. Web.

Introduction

The magnitude of the relationship between income level and poor health is not appreciated enough (Woolf & Braveman, 2011). Regardless of individual characteristics, education and neighborhoods in which people live have a considerable impact on their health (Donatelle, 2014). Even though disparities in housing and transportation have been substantially reduced over the last decades, discrepancies in the health of minority groups and the poor have persisted (Woolf & Braveman, 2011). Health disparities affecting ethnical and racial groups, as well as people with low income, operate through the social environments, access to healthcare services, and attitudes toward healthy behaviors (Woolf & Braveman, 2011).

Overview of the Problem

The life expectancies of the households in the low-income bracket are significantly shorter than those of people who are better off even for the most affluent societies (Wilkinson & Marmot, 2003). The risk of developing serious illnesses for the residents of poor neighborhoods is twice as high in comparison to those living in affluent neighborhoods (Wilkinson & Marmot, 2003). Cultural differences, along with discrepancies in socioeconomic status play a pivotal role in the management of health outcomes of socially disadvantaged groups. The first substantial step toward narrowing the health disparities was made in 2003 by the Institute of Medicine, which issued the report Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care (Woolf & Braveman, 2011). It drew the necessary attention of policymakers, which resulted in the standardization of treatment of disadvantaged groups (Woolf & Braveman, 2011).

The theory of social disorganization can account for the link between health disparities and life in disadvantaged neighborhoods (Bak, Andersen, & Dokkedal, 2015). According to it, characteristics of some community structures such as poverty, low employment opportunities, and residential uncertainties lead to the deficiency in the health-promoting infrastructure and resources (Bak et al., 2015). Poor infrastructure and a lack of necessary social services that are inherent to deprived neighborhoods also result in increased levels of stress. A recent study suggests that the residents of those communities usually rate their health as bad or poor more often than people living in affluent neighborhoods (Bak et al., 2015). Therefore, it is safe to conclude that social determinants are the best predictors of health outcomes.

Other Factors Contributing to Health Disparities

Education is a very significant social determinant that greatly influences health. Disparities in health can be explained by different levels of education that greatly contribute to peoples health behaviors (Woolf & Braveman, 2011). Data from extensive literature reveals that there is a three-fold difference in the likelihood to die before reaching the age of 65 between those adults who have and do not have a high school diploma or its equivalent (Woolf & Braveman, 2011). The data also suggests that six years difference in education can account for the seven-year difference in life expectancy (Woolf & Braveman, 2011).

Culture also has a considerable influence on health literacy. Cultural beliefs contribute greatly to the inability or lack of desire to act on instructions of health care providers (Shaw, Huebner, Armin, Orzech, & Vivian, 2008). Low health literacy levels among some minority groups are related to the morbidity and mortality rates among them (Shaw et al., 2008). The problem is exacerbated by the lack of medical interpreters in public hospitals. According to Baker et al, a high number of Latino patients visiting the emergency department of a community hospital had poor knowledge of their diagnosis and recommended treatment (as cited in Shaw et al., 2008).

There is a correlation between Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) exposure and annual household income (Larsen, 2016). A poor self-assessment of health among socially disadvantaged women is related to the higher likelihood of experiencing IPV (Larsen, 2016). There is also a significant link between prolonged IPV exposure and a frequency of mental health complaints (Larsen, 2016). Moreover, high IPV exposure among racial and ethnic minorities can account for large numbers of chronic diseases (Larsen, 2016).

Policy

The government has to address the issues affecting the health of socially disadvantaged people. The important thing that has to be realized by policymakers is that negative effects on the health of people with low socioeconomic status tend to accumulate during life (Wilkinson & Marmot, 2003). Therefore, if social circumstances and economic constraints of those groups will not be changed they will have lower chances to enjoy good health in old age (Wilkinson & Marmot, 2003).

The government can significantly reduce the number of poor people by regulating taxes, benefits, access to services, housing, and education, thus reducing the negative health effects of poverty. Policymakers must issue legislation aimed at the protection of vulnerable groups from deprivation and discrimination (Wilkinson & Marmot, 2003). It is a public duty to provide minimum income guarantees as a protection for people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Moreover, all existing impediments that limit their access to health care and social services have to be removed

Conclusion

Health disparities negatively influence ethnical and racial groups, as well as people living in neighborhoods affected by deprivation, operate through the social environments, access to healthcare services, and attitudes toward healthy behaviors. The government must take drastic and consistent measures aimed at reducing social exclusion and stratification, unemployment, and limited access to healthcare for people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Legislation guarantying free education and minimum wages can also significantly influence the economic status of residents of poor neighborhoods and minority groups, thus improving their health.

References

Bak, C., Andersen, P., & Dokkedal, U. (2015). The association between social position and self-rated health in 10 deprived neighbourhoods. BMC Public Health, 15(1), 14.

Donatelle, R. (2014). Health: The basics (11th ed.). San Francisco, SF: Benjamin Cummings.

Larsen, M. (2016). First Insights into the Relationships Between Social Position, IPV Exposure, and Health Outcomes. Health Inequities Related To Intimate Partner Violence Against Women, 133-153.

Shaw, S., Huebner, C., Armin, J., Orzech, K., & Vivian, J. (2008). The Role of Culture in Health Literacy and Chronic Disease Screening and Management. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 11(6), 460-467.

Wilkinson, R., & Marmot, M. (2003). Social determinants of health: the solid facts. Denmark, Copenhagen: WHO Publishing.

Woolf, S. & Braveman, P. (2011). Where Health Disparities Begin: The Role of Social And Economic DeterminantsWhy Current Policies May Make Matters Worse. Health Affairs, 30(10), 1852-1859.

Introduction

Healthcare economics is the application of economic principles in solving healthcare issues. The production theory of healthcare economy principles can be applied in determining the efficient use of the hospitals resources. Determining the value of healthcare services is not an easy task because of the nature of healthcare as a service and not a product (Dang et al., 2016). Therefore, the focus of healthcare economics is to seek the most efficient procedure for budgeting the limited resources in healthcare organizations. The cost of interest in this discipline is the opportunity cost which is the value of a product when it is put to its best use. In economic analysis, the managers instituted strategies that bring about the most profit from resources (Dang et al., 2016). Efficiency in healthcare is achieved by selecting a product and the most effective ways to distribute and get markets for the produce. The economic analysis model is applicable at the national and community levels to fight the opioid epidemic. Opioids are a public good whereby one persons utilization may have profound indirect impacts on others. This calls for the state and federal governments to determine the ideal ways to manage this societal issue.

Opioid Crisis

The ineffective use of opioids, including analgesics such as fentanyl, codeine, and morphine, has resulted in high numbers of hospitalizations and sudden deaths from overdosing opioids. The use of illicit opioids, including heroin, also contribute to the burden of the opioid crisis in society. Abusing opioids affects virtually all groups of people, including children, adolescents, college students, veterans, and the elderly. Children born from parents who abused opioids may be born with the addiction. Adolescents and college students may be introduced to opioids by their peers, whereas the aged may become addicted to opioids due to their prolonged use to treat pain. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 50000 individuals died in 2019 from opioid-related complications. The cases of opioid abuse in the United States have been on the rise since the late 90s (Robinson et al., 2019). The other complications of misappropriate use of opioids are the risk of addiction and dependence on individuals. Prolonged use of opioids by patients may result in a transition to other illicit drugs, including heroin, to reduce supply. This epidemic also leads to a significant economic burden on the government to treat and rehabilitate individuals. Direct costs are required to meet the healthcare costs, reduced productivity, and criminal justice involvement of the abusers of opioids (Robinson et al., 2019). Therefore, this epidemic requires a collective and collaborative approach for its effective management.

Organizations involved in Treating the Condition

Several organizations are involved in fighting the opioid crisis. For instance, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is involved in strengthening the treatment of opioid-related problems, keeping track of data on opioid misuse, and agitating for better pain management in hospitals. It is also involved in enhancing research on pain management and antidotes for opioids overdoses (Phillips et al., 2017). The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is another agency involved in research to curb the opioid crisis better. Evidence-based data is vital in resolving the problem of opioid overdose. The allied against opioid abuse is also an example of a nonprofit, non-governmental organization involved in managing the opioid crisis. It aims to provide education and awareness nationally to reduce the misuse and abuse of opioids. Organizations are instrumental in the optimum management of the opioid crisis in the United States.

Policy Analysis Framework

One policy attempting to address the opioid epidemic in North Carolina is the North Carolina opioid action plan updates and opportunities of 2017. This policy focuses on preventing the opioid epidemic, harm reduction, and connecting addicts to care (Kansagra & Cohen, 2018). Since the policys inception in 2017, it has resulted in a decreased number of opioid prescriptions, an increased the number of patients beneficiaries of Medicaid insurance policies, and the prescription of buprenorphine has increased. The harm reduction services included in this policy include providing syringes to opioid abusers, teaching healthcare personnel about linking up individuals to care, and prescribing naloxone to persons at risk of opioid overdose. Other services include training to reduce stigma, increasing buprenorphine dispensing, and the utilization of telemedicine to enhance coverage of treatment in rural areas (Kansagra & Cohen, 2018). These services will be offered in community settings and at hospital facilities. This policy receives funding from the federal government to enhance treatment and preventative services (Kansagra & Cohen, 2018). Some of its benefits include reduced stigma to opioids patients, increased linkage to care and reduced prescription of opioids by clinicians.

Ways of Controlling the Opioid Crisis

Policymakers at the hospital and the community levels need to encourage several evidence-based strategies to curb this menace. Firstly, the effective prescription of opioids by healthcare personnel is imperative in controlling this epidemic. Nurses and physicians need to taper the dosing of opioids according to the individuals unique personal needs. The prescribers need to follow the pain management protocols to treat pain. Clinicians need to conduct a risk-benefit analysis before prescribing certain pain-relieving medications (Phillips et al., 2017). Other appropriate pain management options, including naloxone, may be considered for pain relief. Prescription drug monitoring is useful in enhancing patient safety and wellbeing.

Second, patients need to take steps to prevent the ineffective use of opioids. Patients need to disclose all the drugs they are taking to the clinician, including the counter drugs and herbal medications. They also need to follow the physicians directions on the use of opioids. This includes adherence to the dosage, scheduling, and potential interactions between drugs and food. Furthermore, patients should store and discard the drugs appropriately once completing the treatment plan. Policymakers should institute educational programs for community members on the rational use of opioids (Phillips et al., 2017). Additional information on the delirious effects of opioid overdose is also key in preventing their abuse.

Third, drug manufacturers need to adopt the abuse-deterrent formulations of a drug to curb the misuse of drugs. This strategy includes putting the drugs in physical or chemical preparations which prevent their inappropriate use. The opioid drugs may also be put in designs that exert their effects after a long time. Agonist or antagonist combinations that counteract the effects of a drug once manipulated also stop its abuse (Kansagra & Cohen, 2018). Additionally, this strategy promotes new drug formulations, which renders it ineffective when the drug is not administered via the oral route. Altering the composition of opioids may reduce their abuse.

Evaluation

The success of the opioid prevention plan can be measured using several findingsfirst, reductions in the number of hospital admissions or deaths from opioid-related deaths. Sufficient adherence to the preventative options will reduce the burden of the opioid crisis. Second, effective adherence to the prescription plan by the patients indicates the success of the plan. Furthermore, the local drug enforcement agency reports on opioid misuse also give a clue on the success of the prevention plan (Phillips et al., 2017). The reduction in the number of apprehensions of individuals for opioid-related crimes indicates the programs effectiveness in the community.

In summary, effective economic planning is required for the prudent use of resources. Policymakers need to consider the efficient allocation of scarce resources for proper outcomes. Community collaborations between the healthcare personnel and the community members are key for preventing the opioid crisis. Healthcare providers need to follow the rules of standard prescription of opioids to reduce their misuse. Patients should adhere to the prescriptions to prevent opioid overdoses. State and federal governments need to increase pain management options to reduce over-reliance on opioid medications.

References

Dang, A., Likhar, N., & Alok, U. (2016). Importance of economic evaluation in health care: An Indian perspective. Value in Health Regional Issues, 9, 78-83. 

Kansagra, S. M., & Cohen, M. K. (2018). The opioid epidemic in NC: Progress, challenges, and opportunities. North Carolina Medical Journal, 79(3), 157-162. Web.

Phillips, J. K., Ford, M. A., Bonnie, R. J., & National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2017). Evidence on strategies for addressing the opioid epidemic. In pain management and the opioid epidemic: Balancing societal and individual benefits and risks of prescription opioid use. National Academies Press (U.S.).

Robinson, A., Christensen, A., & Bacon, S. (2019). From the CDC: The prevention for states program: Preventing opioid overdose through evidence-based intervention and innovation. Journal of Safety Research, 68, 231237.