Health Organization Assessment
APA
Paper instructions:
Health Organization Assessment
Research a health care organization or network that spans several states with in the United States (United Healthcare, Vanguard, Banner Health, etc.). Assess the readiness of the health care organization or network you chose in regard to meeting the health care needs of citizens in the next decade.
Prepare a 1,000-1,250 word paper that presents your assessment and proposes a strategic plan to ensure readiness. Include the following:
Describe the health care organization or network.
Describe the organization’s overall readiness based on your findings.
Prepare a strategic plan to address issues pertaining to network growth, nurse staffing, resource management, and patient satisfaction.
Identify any current or potential issues within the organizational culture and discuss how these issues may affect aspects of the strategic plan.
Propose a theory or model that could be used to support implementation of the strategic plan for this organization. Explain why this theory or model is best.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Refer to the LopesWrite Technical Support articles for Helpance.
RUBRIC
Class code: NRS-451VN-0502
Course Code: NRS-452VN
Health Organization Assessment
Every citizen in the United States is entitled to proper health care. The government is dedicated to providing free health cover to all people in the country. Other non-government organizations have also been established to offer health services and improve the lives of people in society. Banner Health Network is a private non-profit health system that is headquartered in Phoenix. It aims at giving quality medical care to patients at an affordable price. The company provides services such as primary, outpatient, and emergency services. It has over 50,000 employees who ensure the delivery of these services to patients (Robins, 2014). The present-day readiness of Banner Health Network determines its success in meeting the health care needs of citizens in the next decade.
Banner works with 29 hospitals and other health care centers in the six states where it has opened branches. It provides specialized care to patients suffering from cancer, heart diseases, those who have undergone surgery, rehabilitation, and pediatric care. Its vision is to be the health care provider of choice in the society for the people who believe in its services and trust it with their wellbeing. The main goal of Banner Health Network is to achieve patient satisfaction, improve the physician’s experience, the health of the people, and to reduce the cost of acquiring health care (Robins, 2014). This is achieved by its extensive use of technology, innovation, and leveraging the knowledge and skills of the employees. Moreover, it uses the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers Survey tool, to compare their services with other hospitals. All this contributes to its mission of making healthcare easier so that people’s lives can be better.
Health care is a complex industry that requires active leaders who Help the organization in dealing with emerging challenges and changes. Banner Health Network has depicted readiness in fulfilling its mission and vision. The network quickly shifted from a hospital system to be an integrated delivery system. Opening up branches in various states shows that the network is oriented to delivering services to patients, thus reducing the agony of seeking quality treatment. Operating with other health entities, other than hospitals enables the network to reach many people in remote areas. People who cannot access hospitals that provide specialized treatments are able to find it in the health centers that Banner is working with. The network incorporates the use of health technologies in diagnosing and treating their patients (Robins, 2014). Innovation and extensive research on health problems have also helped the nurses and doctors in discovering new treatment methods. Consequently, doctors are able to deal with urgent health issues such as emergencies.
Change is inevitable and unexpected. Banner Health is always coaching its employees so that it can manage the complexity of the effects of change. In 2012, the network was awarded an International Prism Award by the International Coaching Federation for effectively implementing coaching as a way of improving the performance and productivity of employees (Robins, 2014). The program also Helps the members of the company in accepting culture change and leadership development. As a result, they gain knowledge on how to adjust to future changes thus enhancing their stability in their work. Furthermore, the employees are trained on the importance of effective communication among themselves and the patients. This helps in creating a conducive environment for patients to heal, thus adding up to their satisfaction. Banner divides the workers into teams for easy assignment of responsibilities. This guarantees ultimate treatment to all patients.
When Banner Health evolved from a hospital system to an integrated health care provider, its plan was to reach more patients. To accomplish this, the company has to expand its network by establishing more branches in other regions. Discovering new health technologies and maintaining effective communication will Help in managing the operations of the new branches. This will lead to a strong health network for Banner Health. Nurse staffing is a critical aspect of success in the provision of health services. When nurses are overworked, they result in underperformance. Banner Health has adopted a strategy of teamwork (Lineweaver & Ana, 2013). Nurses are grouped in teams with members who have similar skills and knowledge. This helps in leveraging their competencies at the same time sharing responsibilities in a fair manner. Besides, it allows skill development from the interaction of team members.
One of the goals of Banner Health is to reduce the cost of health care. In order to achieve this, the company has made efforts in managing the available resources to avoid wastage. Also, the network audits its financial statements to ensure coherent financial reports. However, it should adopt a fiscal policy that will ensure relative resource consumption with regards to demand (Savage, Fottler, & Khatri, 2010). Appropriate use of resources results in the financial stability of an organization thus smooth running of its operations. Banner Health has introduced strategic plans for achieving patient satisfaction. Employees are always trained to maintain professional standards with their patients. Use of information technology to discover ailments and track patients’ recovery show compassion for the patients. The use of a survey tool to assess the performance of the doctors Helps the network to immediately address concerns from patients thus improving the services.
A potential organizational culture issue that might affect the factors of the strategic plan is the leadership style of the Banner. Delegation of authority limits the interaction between employees and the top managers (Lineweaver & Ana, 2013). This can make them lose some work ethics thus going against the company’s values. This leadership will be a hindrance in achieving all the strategic plan aspects. For instance, managing the resources of the company will be difficult because of the many leaders in the departments. Some workers will portray great resistant to changes in the future because they are used to a particular style of management. Team members may neglect their duties since it is hard to recognize people working in different shifts.
The model which best fits the implementation of the strategic plan is the evidence-based model. It focuses on researching all the aspects of the plan and evaluating its outcomes. It analyzes the benefits of the plan to the stakeholders, thus enabling the management to decide if the plan is appropriate (Savage, Fottler, & Khatri, 2010). In using this model, the management of Banner Health will be able to figure out if the plan will contribute to its mission of providing quality health care. Besides, the model engages the concerned parties, hence creating awareness of the expected change.
In a nutshell, health care is essential to the wellbeing of a person. Many people are unable to acquire affordable and quality health services. Formation of networks such as Banner Health which deliver convenient services is a benefit to patients who require special treatments. The use of health technologies, information systems, and patient satisfaction survey tools has enabled the company to improve its services. For a health institution to succeed in its operations, it ought to have a strategic plan that covers the expected changes and challenges in the future. Having good management of resources, nurse staffing, network growth, and patient satisfaction lead to success of the health organization.
References
Lineweaver, P. L., & Ana. (2013). Nurse Staffing 101: A Decision-Making Guide for the RN. Amer Nurses Assn
Robbins, R. (2014). Banner Health, University of Arizona health network to merge. Southwest Journal of Pulmonary and Critical Care, 8(6), 358-359. DOI:10.13175/swjpcc085-14
Savage, G. T., Fottler, M. D., & Khatri, N. (2010). Strategic Human Resource Management in Health Care. Emerald Group Publishing.
