Management
Healthcare
Define and describe the concept of managed care. Differentiate between managed care and health care in the past.
Managed Care is a structure of health care that controls the price of services, administers the utilization of services, and gauges the performance of health care suppliers. Managed care is a health care financing system as well as a health care delivery arrangement. In the past, this nation’s health care industry has been made up of a great amount of self-governing health care suppliers who possessed their own practices. Under managed care, doctors, hospitals, and other health care suppliers are connected contractually into networks (Carlson, 2009).
Identify two widespread effects of the managed-care movement. Describe how managed care affected these areas.
The prevalent effects of managed care include alterations in the makeup and functioning of the health care delivery system. Accessible literature supports the idea that managed care has added to slowing the implementation of new technologies, chiefly the high-cost, high-profile technologies. It has been suggested that managed care has added to some decrease in health care expenditures, even though the degree to which savings will continue over time is not yet clear (Baker, 2002).
3. Identify the major laws and regulations that impact health care organizations in your state. What state-level agency issues licensure regulations for each type of health care facility in the state (e.g., hospitals, )?
The major laws that impact health care organizations at the state level include HIPAA, COBRA, ERISA and CMS regulations. Hospitals are traditionally regulated by the states department of health and the state hospital association. are normally regulated by the states department of jobs and family services.
4. What are the primary strategies for initiating change in organizations?
The primary strategies for initiating change in an organization include having good communication, employing trust and asking for subordinate contributions. It is important that any change that is going to be initiated be communicated to those who it will involve. This will invoke a sense of trust for all those that are involved. And those that are involved should be asked for input since it will be affecting them the most.
5. Identify at least two strategies that have been utilized to ensure or at least enhance organizational survival. Give examples of each of the strategies and their impact on organizational survival.
Two strategies that have been used in order to make sure that organizations survive include hiring the right people and then making sure that all employees are in the right positions. In today’s business environment it is more important than ever to make sure that the employees that are hired are the right ones for the job. If the wrong people are hired then the turnover rates will be high and a lot of money will be wasted on training and education. It is also important to make sure that those employees that are already working at the company are in the right positions that take full advantage of their talents and abilities. If people don’t have the aptitude to do their job then they will not be effective or successful.
1. How does a department manager appropriately serve as a change agent and foster a change-ready environment for the employees? Provide examples with your answer.
A department manger appropriately serves as a change manger and fosters change by communicating with employees. This is done by making sure that they communicate both up and down the ladder. Since the department manger is often the liaison between the front line and upper management, it is important that they communicate with both sides as to what is taking place within the organization in order to foster change without out resistance.
2. What was initially misleading about the introduction of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, known commonly by the acronym HIPAA?
Initially when HIPAA was first implemented it was thought that it would guarantee people insurance coverage if they changed jobs. It was also thought that people were being guaranteed complete privacy when it came to health information.
3. In what ways has the implementation of HIPAA created additional expense for health care organizations? How about other organizations? Please provide examples for each of these areas; evaluating the impact of HIPAA on each.
The implementation of HIPAA has created additional expenses for health care organizations in both the training of their employees on the law and the added extra paper work that must be signed and stored in order to be compliant. Other organizations have incurred increased costs in the areas of possibly having to obtain additional equipment or put into different practices in order to also be compliant. HIPAA has had an impact on all entities in regards to confidentiality.
4. Describe what areas or situations you believe to be the principal cause of most instances of resistance to change. Also what responses should be implemented to counteract the negative impact in these areas?
The areas that are most resistant to change are those in which those being asked to change are not informed as to why the change is taking place and how it is going to directly affect them. People often have a hard time buying into something that they don’t completely understand. The best thing that can be done to counteract resistance is to communicate and explain. This will make those that are being asked to change as if they are part of the process.
5. A manager is there to get things done through the employees and since time memorial managers have done so by issuing orders and instructions. What, if anything, is wrong with having changes implemented in this manner?
Changes implemented in this manner as seen by those asking to change as offensive. If they are just told what to do and how to do it without any explanation as to why then people will resist because they don’t see the benefit in embracing the change and moving forward.
1. The organizational chart is of utmost importance to a health care organization. Identify and describe in detail the numerous reasons for utilizing the organizational chart. Also evaluate the importance of each to the organization.
One area in which an organizational chart is very helpful is that of human resources. HR planning is an energetic process that entails three stages. These include: stocktaking, forecasting, and designing a temporary workforce. In the first phase of stocktaking, recruitment and selection of key kinds of workers support with strategic business plan in order to attain precise targets. The second phase of forecasting is divided into two phases, forecasting prospective people requirements and forecasting accessibility of people. The third and final stage entails flexible strategy to employ temporary workers as per need evaluation and cost efficient benefits (Human Resource Planning for Healthcare, 2010).
In a healthcare company, customary quantitative approaches are utilized to make enumerative decisions based on subjective managers forecast to assign exact budgets for worker’s payroll expenses and need assessments of key worker potentiating receptive to organizational system and makeup. Resource allotments are best carried out with the aid of activity-based cost management, that manages price and labor necessary for particular job and decrease waste (Human Resource Planning for Healthcare, 2010).
2. Describe what is meant by the dual pyramid form of organization in health care? Evaluate the roles of the 2 groups traditionally related to this concept.
A Health Care Organization’s (HCO) organizational makeup is different from that of other regular organizations. In regular organizations, there is only one power that can manage the entire body of the organization and this leading body oversees this power. There are two types of powers that be in HCO’s. The formal right of position rests in the managerial chain of command and the power of knowledge is possessed by members of the Medical Staff Organization. The governing body manages these two powers that be, but if that body does not have enough power to supervise these two parties, then three kinds of powers that be exist within one organization. Such circumstances are known as a dual-pyramid type of organization or two lines of authority (Imamura, 2000).
Conventionally, hospitals are seen as dual hierarchies. In addition to the formal administrative pyramid, the professional medical system forms a second line of power. Just as customary is the fact that this poses considerable issues for hospital administration (Imamura, 2000). Having more than one line of management only leads to confusion as no one truly understands who they report to and who they should listen to when it comes to getting things done.
1. In what ways do committees occasionally serve to counterbalance authority and diffuse power within an organization? Evaluate the use of committees within the organization, identifying the most optimum use in your opinion. Defend your position.
A committee is a type of small deliberative assemblage that is typically planned to stay secondary to another, superior deliberative assemblage. A committee is normally given the authority to make decisions, spend money, or take measures. Some or all such authority may be in fact unlimited. This is when a committee can counterbalance authority and diffuse power within an organization since effectively only a small faction is making important decisions. The best use of committees is to have limited power to make decisions but have unlimited power to make recommendations on how things should be done.
2. Identify the initial issue that should always be thoroughly addressed when the establishment of a committee is recommended.
The initial issue that should be addressed is that of making sure that those on the committee are the people capable of carrying out the agenda of the committee and that the committee will have limited power to make organizational decisions.
3. In what ways may committees be said to dilute the recognition and diffuse the blame or responsibility? Where, based on your personal experience, have you seen one of these impact an organization?
Committees are often seen as one entity as opposed to a group of people. If something very good comes out of a committee then the group as a whole often is recognized, when in reality the success may have been attributed to one or two people. I have seen this happen when a committee recommended the implementation of a policy because of the leaders push that was on the committee and when the policy was a huge disaster the entire committee was admonished when in reality it was the fault of one individual.
4. Why should employee teams be kept from addressing employee benefits and other conditions of employment?
Employee teams should be kept from addressing employee benefits and other conditions of employment because these are very personal things that should only be dealt with by professionals who are trained to address these types of issues.
5. Explain the fundamental difference between a committee and a task force.
A task force is typically organized to deal with a particular task. When the task is done, the task force is dispersed. A committee is typically appointed for a specific purpose, and usually out of a larger body, in order to deal with many issues.
1. What various means are often used to secure compliance with an organization’s work rules? Evaluate each of these and select the most effective in your opinion.
Quality processes are characteristically utilized in order to make sure that compliance is attained with an organization’s work regulations. These processes include such things as: setting quality goals to be met, taking the measures necessary to gauge quality, recognizing quality matters and enhancements and reporting the overall level of quality attained (Quality Management Process, 2003). When it comes to securing compliance with the rules it is important for the rules to be clearly set and explained and if there is an issue with compliance it is important that the issue be identified as quickly as possible and an action plan be put into place to improve the non-compliance.
2. According to Maslow’s theory of human motivation, why can we describe an individual’s quest for need satisfaction as a progressive process?
An individual’s quest for need satisfaction can be described as a progressive process because a person is always trying to satisfy a need. A person has to satisfy one need before they can move on to the next need, so the process is always progressive.
3. How can we conclude from Herzberg’s theory that the primary motivators are inherent in the work itself?
Everyone’s motivators are different. What motivates one person does not necessarily motivate the next person. Because of this it can be said that primary motivators are inherent in the work itself since people continue to do it even if they say that they are not motivated or happy with what they are doing.
4. Why is some degree of conflict inescapable in the organizational setting? Is conflict ever productive within the organizational setting?
There are always going to be differing opinions when more than one person is involved, which means that there will always be conflict. There are times when conflict can be productive in an organizational setting because from good conflict can come new and innovative ideas that can be used to improve and enhance processes and procedures.
Compare and contrast the three patterns of accommodation (upward mobility, indifference, and ambivalence). For each, describe the management style that would most likely apply in supervising individuals who strongly exhibited adherence to each pattern.
as regulation and process oriented people who want to attain and identify with the organization’s objectives and work hard to attain the organization’s objectives. Upward-mobiles see the organization’s power and regulations as genuine, have high faithfulness, and tend not to question the organizations regulations and choices. Upward-mobiles want to do well in an organization, and move forward in the hierarchy of the organization’s makeup. Indifferent describes indifferent people as persons who look at their lives as disconnected from work. Indifferent people see their association with the company as a business swap where the company gets a set quantity of time of labor in swap for a paycheck. Being indifferent is not automatically negative, in fact, a large percentage of people are indifferent people. Ambivalent describes ambivalent people as introverts who do not acclimatize well to companies. These people look negatively upon top down power, and frequently express criticisms against the company makeup, regulations and operations. These people have value because while the upward-mobile acknowledge the organization’s status quo and the indifferent blindly follow the organization’s status quo, the ambivalent will persist to evaluate the company’s rules, regulations, and operating actions (Tibbles, 2006).
1. What is the relationship of orientation, training, and staff development to motivation?
The more information and training that an employee has the more motivated they will be to do a good job because they will feel that they have been given the tools to do the job to the best of their ability.
2. Identify the specific content of the orientation program for which the department manager is responsible.
The part of the orientation program for which a department manger should be responsible is that in which that department and its functions are explained along with how this department fits into the entire organization.
3. Describe in detail your understanding of the differences between on-the-job training and mentoring.
on-the-job training is something that a person receives in order to give them the basic tools that are needed to do their job. Mentoring on the other hand is a personal relationship that one has with someone in the organization in order to help them further their career within the company.
References
Baker, L. 2002. “Managed care, medical technology, and the well-being of society,” viewed 21
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Carlson, Gail. 2009. “Managed Care Understanding Our Changing Health Care System,” viewed
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“Human Resource Planning for Healthcare.” 2010, viewed 21 February 2011,
Imamura, Hidehito. 2000. “The Accountabilities of Physicians and Health Care Organizations
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“Quality Management Process.” 2003, viewed 21 February 2011,
Serrat, Olivier. 2010, ” Informal Authority in the Workplace,” viewed 21 February 2011,
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Tibbles, David. 2006. “Communication Organizational Orientations in an Instructional Setting,”
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