150 Years of St. Elizabeth Healthcare: A History of Providing Quality Care - Report Sample

Introduction

Since its foundation in 1861 as just a small health facility, St. Elizabeth Healthcare has grown to become one of the leading healthcare providers in the Northern Kentucky region. Throughout its 150 years history, St. Elizabeth has focused on improving patient care and the provision of primary care to the residents of Northern Kentucky. To achieve this, the facility's administration has along the way formulated policies that are fair and just to every community member who can access the hospital. Through this, St. Elizabeth Healthcare has come up with a policy that ensures that all individuals seeking medical care or any other form of care in the facility be charged equally, irrespective of one's financial capability (St. Elizabeth Healthcare (n. d). In St. Joseph, every single patient pays the same amount of fees regardless of their social or economic status, be it a politician or junior construction worker.

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Fees

Despite the fees charged being the same to all patients, the responsibility may vary with coinsurance and co-pays. Other than charging equal fees to everyone, St. Joseph healthcare also offers an estimating program that allows patients to have a rough estimate of the amount of out of pocket fees based on the services scheduled or ordered in the facility as well as information regarding insurance benefits. Since the value is only an estimate, the actual fees due are always subject to variation based on the services offered, procedures performed as well as the actual insurance benefits provided by the insurer. Patients who preorder their care services and medical procedures through the estimate program are rewarded for their confidence in the facility. St. Elizabeth extends a fifteen percent discount to every individual that pre-pays their estimated out of pocket fees/charges (Goodman, 2019).

The hard-economic times and rising rates of unemployment in the country have resulted in the majority of citizens being uninsured or sometimes being underinsured. Northern Kentucky is not an exception, and the rising cost of living in the region has led to people abandoning insurance for many essential commodities like food and housing. In an attempt to reduce the financial baggage that befalls uninsured and underinsured families and individuals in the region, St. Elizabeth Healthcare offers personalized packages to these patients (Goodman, 2019). The facility provides uninsured patients with an estimate that comprises of a forty percent self-pay discount which reduces the fees charged to almost by half. The discount is also applied in the final medical bill, even if it changed from the estimated one. Consequently, St. Joseph also offers financial assistance to patients who cannot afford the estimated pay, but meet the financial assistance qualifications. The facility has as well programs that sort issues with patients that live outside Kentucky (St. Elizabeth Healthcare (n. d). For the uninsured and do not meet the assistance qualifications, St. Joseph healthcare extends automatic discounts to their final bills.

Methods of Funding

Throughout the facility's long history, services at St. Elizabeth have continued to improve, which translates to great leadership and funding. The cost of quality medical care is high and significant investments and partnerships had to be made for the facility to come out top. St. Elizabeth generates the majority of its funds from the services fees they charge, as well as the medical expertise they provide to their patients. In a single financial year, St. Elizabeth generates an excess of two million dollars. Apart from the company revenue, the facility receives financial donations from philanthropists and wealthy individuals from across the country and abroad (Goodman, 2019). The majority of donors are health care champions who wish to help their communities by donating funds to a facility that cares for its community. Apart from philanthropists and donors, St. Elizabeth Healthcare also receives finances from charitable groups as well as non-profit organizations that advocate for community healthcare.

St. Elizabeth Healthcare also receives grants from the local government for them to continue their great care work. These government packages allow St. Elizabeth to offer care to all citizens regardless of their financial capability, as well as offering discounts to uninsured patients and those unable to clear medical bills (Goodman, 2019). The hospital as well receives profits from other direct ventures in various industries, such as real-estate.

Quality and Ethics

Accreditation

Through the accreditation procedure, organizations such as hospitals make lay down significant performance-enhancement strategies and policies to improve gradually. St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Northern Kentucky is no exemption and has improved throughout the years to provide outstanding medical care, with minimal risks and cost-friendly. After satisfying the requirements, St. Joseph Healthcare is a fully accredited health facility by both The Joint Commission and the Kentucky Medical Association (St. Elizabeth Healthcare (n. d). Apart from the general accreditation of the facility, individual departments are as well accredited after meeting the set standards by the responsible bodies. Among them is the St. Elizabeth Breast Center, which was successfully evaluated and credited by the National Program for Breast enters. All these accreditations were passed after St. Elizabeth Healthcare showed commitment to offering top-quality care and after portraying obligation to ensuring high patient and staff safety. The facility's focus and commitment to quality care and patient satisfaction have enabled St. Elizabeth to improve its service delivery, which in turn leads to positive reviews leading to accreditation. The equipment and tools used by qualified physicians, nurses among other hospital staff are high quality, a guarantee of high-quality service, and minimal risk to all patients.

Awards

Through the facility's efforts to make Northern Kentucky one the healthiest communities in the country, St. Elizabeth's Healthcare recognitions and awards speak to the quality of medical care the hospital provides. St. Elizabeth boasts top-level medical experts, who are ranked the best in the region through their personalized and innovative service delivery to patients. Nurses from St. Elizabeth Healthcare have as-well earned high recognition from various bodies due to their incredible commitment to patient satisfaction and quality care and services. In other categories and awards, St. Elizabeth Healthcare's hospital facilities and structures have been ranked among the high-performing hospitals by organizations such as World Report and U.S. News (King & Fellows, 2020). The facility's management was also honored for their leading role in the organization's administration and in carrying out the mission, vision, values, and strategic plan.

In 2015, St. Elizabeth Healthcare received a Quality Award from the Kentucky Hospital Association. All health facilities around Kentucky are eligible for the award, which is awarded to enhance organizational commitment and focus on attaining the best results. St. Elizabeth was recognized from their exemplary integration of innovation and leadership in patient commitment, safety, and care quality. In 2015, St. Elizabeth Healthcare received recognition from the National Research Corporation as being the most preferred health facility for all health needs in the Northern Kentucky region (St. Elizabeth Healthcare (n. d). The hospital was also awarded the 2018 'I See you Care' Award, which recognizes a remarkable partnership between AICU's critical care group and hospital staff.

Regulation

Among the many regulations that guide the day to day running of St. Elizabeth Healthcare, discipline and strict compliance to the hospital's code of conduct and related guidelines is an essential requirement to every hospital staff in the facility. Failure to follow these guidelines and codes of conduct may result in disciplinary actions being taken towards the responsible staff. In instilling discipline among its staff, St. Elizabeth Healthcare wishes to apply the naturally sufficient discipline rather than extreme punishment, which is not necessary (St. Elizabeth Healthcare (n. d). These procedures also ensure that every staff in the facility, regardless of their department, job, or employee level comply with every applicable local, federal, and state statutes and regulations.

The majority of business and healthcare professionals have organizations which bear their personalized ethical codes. Such bodies include the Kentucky Nurse Act, which governs nurses in the Northern Kentucky region. St. Elizabeth Healthcare employees, partnering firms, and other close hospital associates must adhere and conform to any oaths, registrations, laws, licensing, among other necessities of established professional bodies so long as they do not conflict with the hospital requirements. Like many other workplaces, St. Elizabeth Healthcare is determined to improving the working environment of its staff. Various policies have thus been put into place to ensure a conducive working environment for both hospital staff and patients (Putri et al. 2019). The hospital is, for example, committed to a drug and alcohol-free environment.

Patient/Visitor Ethical Issues

To maintain St. Elizabeth Healthcare hospitals' conducive environment for everyone, both the hospital staff, as well as patients, must be held accountable for their behavior. In this regard, the hospital asks all visitors and patients to support a healing and safe environment for smooth compassionate, and comprehensive care. To put this into effect, St. Elizabeth Healthcare does not tolerate violent behavior and aggressive language within the facility's premises. All these regulations are in accord with the Kentucky law. St. Elizabeth also urges all visitors and patients to report any kind of unethical behavior around the hospital to maintain a safe and healing environment for all.

Marketing Strategies

In the quest to becoming the best health care provider in the Northern Kentucky region, St. Elizabeth has to provide services that are high quality. To become the most preferred hospital in the region, St. Elizabeth Healthcare uses financial assistance programs to attract more customers to the facility. The hospital offers different discounts which are categorized systematically to fit almost every visitor or patient who visits the hospital. The financial aid and discount strategy have attracted many patients to the facility, who end up saving a significant amount of their finances.

Another important strategy employed by St. Elizabeth Healthcare is the fee estimate program, where patients get to know their estimated charges even before visiting the facility. On top of it, the program rewards every patient who pays their estimated fees before visiting the facility with a considerable discount. St. Elizabeth Healthcare also provides personalized packages to uninsured citizens, as well as those who don't live in the state of Kentucky. Uninsured discount programs and other policies have allowed St. Elizabeth Healthcare to become and remain the leading care providers according to patient preference.

Conclusion

Being a catholic hospital, St. Elizabeth's mission and vision are directed towards the enhancement of the health of the community at large. The facility's mission statement focuses on improving the health of the communities they serve. To achieve this, St. Elizabeth Healthcare has developed policies and strategies that are favorable to all associates.