Essay Sample on Healthcare Organizations: Successful Strategies for Adapting to Constant Change

Introduction

Health care systems play a critical role in society, contributing to excellent health services and health security. The new and developing environmental interest demands several healthcare organizations be more vigilant in their strategies and decision-making to meet the continuing market demands in the competitive environment. According to Young & Ballarin (2006), a successful healthcare organization must steadily review its strategies to adapt to constant changes in the surrounding environment. Extensive critical and creative thinking and excellent strategies result from ethical decision-making. Decision-making comprises various decisions taken concerning several organizational activities, such as market activities, staff wages, system analysis, politics, and psychology.

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Besides, excellent decision-making is an essential aspect of the management of an organization. Decision-making dictates organizational achievement concerning problem-solving, as well as the performance indicator. Moreover, ethical decision-making and strategic planning an essential mechanisms in healthcare organizations concerning the patient demands and anticipation to provide better health services in the community. Thus, it is useful in people's lives and the management process (Papanikos et al., 2005).

There are instances, as illustrated by different studies showing the outstanding health care organization with excellent performance standards due to excellent decision-making, legitimate planning, and appropriate strategic moves. For example, reports show that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is a prosperous healthcare organization with exceptional performance standards.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Performance Standards/Benchmarks

Primarily, healthcare organizations use the national standard requirements and particular quality enhancement tools to deliver quality services and enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of public health organizations and systems. For quality ratings, the CDC should offer quality services to the people of America by regularly monitoring community health status to minimize health complications. The organization should play an essential role in planning and setting up particular strategic innovations that help in the investigation and diagnosis of health problems and contagious diseases in the community. Moreover, empowering people through community education on health issues enhances health development, boosting the CDC organization's performance standards. Lastly, proper planning, evaluation, effectiveness, efficiency, and the quality of the healthcare workforce, as well as community-based health services, enhance the organization's quality rating and performance standards.

Additionally, for the excellent performance of the organization, the CDC management, in partnership with the National Public Health Performance Standards Program (NPHPSP), should create and give out the ‘Service Excellence Award’ to the scientist with research work contributing to better health securities and enhanced public health. For instance, according to Burgess (2011), ‘CDC established an honored award known as the Charles C. Shepard Science Award in 1986, awarded to the best scientific accomplishment and publications.' Henceforth, the CDC organization awards the best scientists with excellent scientific achievements and publications. The contenders of the award are assessed through their work and the impact they bring to the development of health in the community. Hence, the Service Excellence Award improves the service and performance standards of the organization.

Moreover, the CDC should formulate a legitimate approach to minimize medical errors and prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). The organization provides data reports that help to trail the breakthrough and other areas that need improvement. Through the National Healthcare Safety Network, healthcare organizations and facilities should be given appropriate facilities and accurate data necessary to determine the challenges and problem areas, to reduce medical errors, and to eradicate healthcare-associated infections significantly.

Evaluation of Strategic Innovations on the Performance Standards

Selective Contracting

By definition, selective contracting refers to the process that involves patients' prepaid hospital plans, where certified providers and agencies are contracted to provide essential healthcare services to the people of America, such as payment of bills. The service rates are approved by the national standards in the country. CDC organizations collaborate with other organizations such as Accountable Care Organization (ACO), which delivers better health services to the patients, for example, better health results, cost, and quality services. It lowers the cost of healthcare services to the patients while upholding quality care as well as the preferred performance standards. Besides, ACO inspires CDC healthcare providers to generate networks that integrate patients’ care, which allows the acceptance of shared savings after delivering quality care more effectively.

Cost Sharing

Cost-sharing in health care refers to the extra amount of money patients pay that are not covered by any health insurance company or agency. Through the partnership and collaboration with national agencies and other stakeholders, CDC formulate specific health strategies required to be assimilated in the health delivery system to reduce the cost-sharing amount and enhance the health services of the patients. The effort of such interventions will tremendously lead to the reduction of healthcare expenditure and will strengthen the population health, thus, improving the performance standards of the organization.

Managed Care

By definition, managed care is a health insurance, covering contracted members of a specific healthcare organization to reduce the cost of health services through certain legal agreements. For instance, for proper management and care for its staff members, doctors and nurses, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) management laid down strategies for partnership with managed care organizations (MCOs) to provide health services to its employees. More benefits from MCOs include increasing the approach to covered interests for employees and enhancing the application of preventive services by the members (CHCS, 2018). The care and the well-being of the organization's workers improve the performance standards.

Quality Standards

Quality standards are a set of specific health measures required for quality improvement of health services in health care organizations. For quality healthcare standards, CDC management bolsters its programs and strengthens the strategic plans and activities to transform the delivery of public health services. Through the involvement of the National Public Health Performance Standards Program (NPHPSP), creation of substantial public health, improvement laboratory systems, and the introduction of contemporary guidance measures, are some of the efforts used by the leadership management of CDC to improve and maintain quality standards (Lenaway et al., 2010). Hence, the organization has maintained excellent performance standards based on national standards.

The Role of Decision-Making in the Achievement of National Benchmarks

The leadership support uses various management strategies and ethical decision-making to obtain excellent performance standards as required by the national standards. Decision-making plays a vital role in healthcare organizations by providing better health care services and solving health-related problems. For instance, for quality services and quality rating, the organizational managers should set up strategic plans such as early and active investigation and diagnosis of health problems in the advanced laboratories.

Moreover, decision-making activities, such as planning, set the required standards of the services. The decision to regularly review the quality standards and the kind of services offered to the clients is an excellent leadership practice to achieve national benchmarks. Tracking trends and asking for feedback ensure the delivery of quality services and, thus, the quality rating of the organization. Besides, ethical decision-making by leaders setups specific thresholds that should be taken or obtained to take performance to the required boundaries outline within the national standards.

Conclusion

Decision-making involves leadership intervention concerning organizational activities such as system analysis, wages, and even market activities. It precepts the achievement of an organization and acts as a performance indicator. Furthermore, it is an essential factor in the healthcare organization for setting the standards of healthcare services. Excellent decision-making, legitimate planning as well and relevant strategic moves lead to quality services and achievement of performance standards provided in the national standards. Service excellence award, which motivates the workers, quality ratings from quality health services, and minimal medical errors in a successful organization, creates national benchmarks. Moreover, several strategic innovations, such as selective contracting, cost-sharing, quality standards, and managed care, measure performance standards based on national standards.

References

Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS). (2018, June 16). “Three Phases of Implementing Medicaid-Public Health Prevention Activities in CDC’s 6|18 Initiative.” https://www.618resources.chcs.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/618-phases-infographic_050718.pdf.

Charles C. Shepard Science Awards Ceremony, Burgess, P., Frieden, T. R., Greenwood, B., Popovic, T., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.), & United States. (2011). 2011 Charles C. Shepard Science Awards Ceremony: June 10, 2011, 10:00 a.m., Tom Harking Global Communications Center, Building 19, Auditorium A, CDC Roybal Campus. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Lenaway, Dennis Ph.D., MPH; Corso, Liza C. MPA; Buchanan, Sharunda Ph.D.; Thomas, Craig Ph.D.; Astles, Rex Ph.D., DABCC, FACB Quality Improvement, and Performance: CDC's Strategies to Strengthen Public Health, Journal of Public Health Management and Practice:January-February 2010 - Volume 16 - Issue 1 - p 11-13 doi: 10.1097/PHH.0b013e3181c115ee

Papanikos, G. T., Yfantopoulos, J. N., & Athens Institute for Education and Research. (2005). Health economics, management, and policy. Athens

Young, D., & Ballarin, E. (2006). Strategic Decision-Making in Healthcare Organizations: It is Time to Get Serious. The International journal of health planning and management, 91-173.