The two most notable health care trends in the US include the move towards patient-centered care and changing demographics. The country’s health care environment has been shifting from case-centeredness towards patient-centeredness. In the former model, health care practitioners made all treatment decisions based entirely on experience and clinical assessments. In patient-centeredness, however, patients are increasingly becoming participants in care delivery based on individual preferences (Small and Small, 2011).
The new approach implies that human resource departments recruit and train health care providers on the importance of embracing patient-centeredness in care delivery. In essence, the model advice HR departments to replace old physicians with their counterparts that ascribe to the new model. The idea here is that such individuals acknowledge the need to consider the patient’s perspective for optimal condition management. (Berghout, Exel, Leensvaart, and Cramm, 2015)
Contrarily, there are two elements that are visible in demographic change given the current healthcare environment. First, there exist a significant percentage of the American population that is over 65 years old. Second, the increase in the elderly population proportion stems conflicts with slowed growth in the young population. This trend places a strain on healthcare resources, among them facilities, supplies, and practitioners. From an HR perspective, the condition acts as a constraint on the current number of health care workers. Particularly, the resultant positive shift in the demand over supply significantly increases the staff-patient ratio (Oliver, Foot, and Humphries, 2014).
Now, the following HRM strategies can help in addressing these health care trends. First, the HR department could consider recruiting new-age and culturally diverse nurses and physicians who acknowledge the need for patient-centeredness. Second, HR could also train existing nurses on the importance of appreciating the same concept. Furthermore, HR departments are recruiting additional nurses to take care of the shortage needs at the facility level. Finally, it would be vital to restructure compensation and benefits plans to retain existing workers given their increasing demand in other facilities.
References
Berghout, M., Exel, J., Leensvaart, L., & Cramm, J. (2015). Healthcare professionals’ views on patient-centered care in hospitals. BMC Health Services Research, 15 (385). doi:10.1186/s12913-015-1049-z
Oliver, D., Foot, C., & Humphries, R. (2014). Making our Health and Care Systems fit for an Ageing Population. The Kings Fund, 2-80.
Small, D., & Small, R. (2011). Patients First! Engaging the Hearts and Minds of Nurses with a Patient-Centered Practice Model. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 16 (2). doi:10.3912/OJIN.Vol16No02Man02
