Organization and management of a healthcare facility
Summary of hospital organization structure
Most hospitals usually take up a vertical organization structure. This structure is usually suitable for organizations that require the provision of precise and high quality services. The lives and wellbeing of patients are entrusted to the hospital and the organization structure has to ensure that the services are provided precisely. The vertical organization structure usually has many management levels, with the functions of each level decreasing as you move down the organizational structure. The reason for having multiple management levels is to ensure that the functions narrow down as you go down the structure. This ensures that the people at the bottom level of the structure are specialized in the particular work they do. Specialization allows the workers to deal with the patients efficiently and effectively. In an organization where there are multiple levels of management, each department has its own functions and within each department, individuals have their own responsibilities. This means that the hospital is focused on giving its core functions.
Our hospital is a church based hospital established by the Catholic Church. At the top of the organizational structure is the board of directors. The board of directors is chaired by an appointee of the church. Sitting in the board are influential individuals from the local community. The role of the board of directors is to come up with the mission for the hospital and ensure that the hospital meets this mission. Below the board of directors are the executives. The chief executive officer of the hospital is in charge of overseeing the day-to-day running of the hospital.
The CEO also sits in the board of directors as a member. They translate the mission of the hospital into goals that have to be met by the hospital. Also in this level are other executives like the chief financial officer who is responsible for the finances of the hospital. The chief medical officer also falls in this category and is in charge of the medical services in the hospital. Below the executives are the departmental heads or managers.
Each of these individuals is responsible for a specific medical department in the hospital. In this level is the chief nursing officer, the head of dental department among others. These departmental heads ensure that the staff working under them are performing their roles as required and comply with hospital and legal requirements. These departmental heads are responsible for setting the schedules and timetables within their specific departments. Below the departmental heads, there are the medical staff members. These are the individuals tasked with providing the actual services to the patients. Their roles are specific and highly specialized. Doctors, nurses, laboratory technicians and dentists among others all fall into this category. Below this level are the support staff members who help the service providers in their roles. Support staff members include maintenance technicians, cleaners and other casual employees.
Mission of the hospital
Being a church hospital, the mission of the hospital is tied closely to Christian religious beliefs. The mission of the hospital is “to provide affordable and quality medical services for a better life.” Medical care is expensive and many ordinary people struggle to access quality care. The teachings of Christ showed us to love one another and help the needy. Majority of the people on whom Jesus performed miracles were the poor and needy and had been neglected by the community. In keeping with the teachings of Christ, the hospital aims to provide quality care that is accessible to everyone in the community including the poor. The hospital also aims to provide quality treatment to every patient who seeks treatment at the facility.
Feasibility plan for hiring nurses, physicians and allied professionals
The board of directors sanctions the hiring of healthcare professionals. The need for individual workers is identified by the department heads. The department head is in the best position to know whether their department needs to hire a worker because they are on the ground. After the need for a worker is identified, the department head communicates this need to the CEO. During the board meetings, the CEO passes this communication to the board of directors who accept or reject the request.
If the request is approved, the process for identifying and recruiting a suitable person to fill the position begins. The hospital advertises for the position to attract qualified people. People interested in filling the position send their CVs and relevant documents to the hospital. The department head wishing to recruit a member goes through the CVs and narrows down the applicants to a select few. The shortlisted candidates are then invited for an interview in the hospital. The interviewing panel includes the CEO, the department head, the human resource manager and any other suitable leader. Shortlisted candidates are interviewed and the interviewing panel decides on the most qualified person to fill the position. The HR manager then finalizes the employment procedures with the selected individual.
Rationale for plan
The reason behind this recruitment plan is to ensure that the hospital maintains adequate staff members at all times. Many organizations in the service industry face a problem of having either excess staff or a shortage of workers. When there is a shortage of staff, the service delivery to the patient is compromised. When workers are few, either the hospital is forced to turn patients away or if they take them in, the available staff members are overworked. Overworking the staff means that they are not able to give the detailed attention they are supposed to. Staff members also become demoralized leading to a drop in the quality of healthcare provided. The opposite is having excess staff.
Having excess staff members means, that, each member does not work to the maximum of their ability. This may result in staff feeling under-used which results in demoralization. This also affects the quality of healthcare provided. In addition, excess staff is costly to the hospital. The mission of the hospital is to provide quality affordable healthcare. This means that costs have to be minimized so that it can translate to cheaper costs for the patients. The major expense at the hospital is staff salaries. Having excess staff costs the hospital greatly because they still have to be paid in full. The rationale for the hiring plan is to ensure that the hospital maintains an optimal number of staff members, which ensures that they provide the best quality care at an affordable cost.
Reasons why plan is suitable for use with different healthcare professionals
This plan is suitable for use in hiring all healthcare professionals. In providing medical services, hospitals are usually faced with similar problems; getting the right number of staff members and finding the right individual to fill any vacant position. This plan for hiring medical personnel helps to solve these two major problems. The process is also fast with board meetings taking place each month. This means that if the right individual is identified, any vacant position can be filled in about a month.
Justify the use of IT to increase patient services
Information technology is very important in the healthcare industry. In the past, health records were paper-based. With advances in technology, the paper-based system has been largely replaced using digital systems. Present day health information systems have made it easy to keep patient records and generate new information and subsequently, new knowledge. The backbone of IT in health is electronic health records. The benefits of IT in health are very many. They allow the health workers to work efficiently. Electronic health records are easy to store, manage and transfer over networks (Berkowitz & McCarthy, 2013).
With the use of IT, health records of patients are no longer tied to a physical location. In the past, doctors did not have access to the medical history of a patient. They had to request for copies from the patient’s doctor or ask the patient for a brief history. Because of the difficulty of obtaining such records, doctors usually had to work with limited information concerning the patient. IT in health has made it easy to record and transfer such records allowing doctors to access it easily. In addition to medical records, there are tools and applications that have been developed to assist medical care workers in their work. Diagnostic tools have been developed for example, that assist doctors in making diagnosis with the input from the patients (Mantas & Hasman, 2013).
This has led to greater accuracy in diagnosis, which helps to avoid cases where some problems could be missed. Medical care providers can also offer their services to patients online via tools such as video conferencing. This removes the need for patients to present themselves physically in healthcare centers. This tool is particularly useful in remote areas where the distance between the patient and the healthcare provider is great. Tools that remind patients about treatment and doctor’s appointments have also been developed. The physical problems associated with paper-based record storage such as space and lost records have been minimized. Generally, the use of information technology in healthcare has improved the quality of services provided to the patients (Tyrrell, 2002).
Summary table of pros and cons for using IT in healthcare
Despite the advantages offered by IT in healthcare, there are a few disadvantages of using it. Health information systems are largely dependent on network connections. This means that most of the records can be accessed online. Like many other information systems, security concerns are a major disadvantage of using IT in healthcare. Medical records are confidential in nature and access by un-authorized personnel is a major concern. Some tools such as online consultations can also decrease the effectiveness of treatment. The table below summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of using IT in healthcare (Tyrrell, 2002).
References
Berkowitz, L., & McCarthy, C. (2013). Innovation with information technologies in healthcare. London: Springer.
Brittain, J. M., & Abbott, W. (2008). Information management and technology in healthcare: A guide to education and training. London: Taylor Graham with the Support of the National Health Service Training Directorate.
Mantas, J., & Hasman, A. (2013). Informatics, management and technology in healthcare. New York: Sage
Tyrrell, S. (2002). Using information and communication technology in healthcare. Abingdon, Oxon, UK: Radcliffe Medical.
Walshe, K., & Smith, J. (2011). Healthcare management. Maidenhead, Berkshire, England: McGraw Hill/Open University Press.
