Essay Sample Describing the Health Care Organization

Dealing with the Needs of Patients

The United Healthcare was founded in 1974, and it incorporates the concerted efforts of a faction of physicians and other healthcare professionals. Their collective mandate is to oversee the preservation of the quality of life for the patient through augmentation of the working mechanisms of the health care system. In essence, the United Health Group has presented a new frontier by expanding its horizons to integrate service delivery to approximately 80 million the world over-inclusive of their health benefits. The organization has managed to achieve such milestones by creating subsidies for other healthcare institutions through the establishment of Centers of Excellence globally. These systems serve the purpose of invigorating nurses and act as hubs for the inculcation of lifelong learning practices, which are vital to the nursing profession. Consequently, this paper offers credence to the future preparedness of the organization regarding the provision of ideal health services to American citizens. Moreover, the essay will give insights into the issues pertinent to the strategic plan for network growth, nurse staffing and patient satisfaction and resource management.

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The fundamental ideologies for addressing the needs of patients appropriately are embedded in the commission statement of United Health Group. In essence, this declaration encompasses the improvement of the health system, which ultimately leads to overall health improvement. This is because of the advocacy for acknowledgment of inevitabilities such as arbitrary mistakes where appropriate solutions are formulated, and as a result, the communities served to augment their confidence in the quality of service delivered. Subsequently, the organization holds their staff in high esteem during patient care by integration of values such as compassion, patient-nurse relationships, creativity, and performance in their professionalism.

One exceptional project initiated by the organization is the establishment of an elaborated prevention and intervention program for regulation of diabetes prevalence. The Diabetes Prevention Program is community-based and assimilates evidence-based measures in providing apt services. For instance, the cost of diabetes to the U.S economy as of the year 2007 was $174 billion, and it is projected to rise beyond the $4.5 trillion mark by 2019 (United Health Group, 2009). Accordingly, such costs have financial implications where health insurance firms reduce the coverage of patients, which culminates in loss of access to appropriate healthcare services. The United Healthcare Group has thus formulated a framework for diabetic patients where its programs are devoid of any additional costs regardless of the number of family members enlisted in a given health cover. Moreover, educational programs through seminars and conferences that are regularly conducted throughout the nation are designed to create public awareness and encouraging nutritional therapy and healthy lifestyle choices for people living with diabetes. The inauguration of the Electronic Medical Records has also revolutionized the management and clinical documentations of patients profiles, which provides efficiency regarding timely service delivery. In addition, drugs that are prescribed over EMRs diminish the instances allergies to medication alongside recommending cost effective drugs, which allow a patient to save money.

Strategic Plan for Network Development

The United Healthcare Group is renowned for its extensive and expansive network comprising of over 5000 hospitals, nearly one million healthcare professionals and physicians and approximately 80,000 dentists. Additionally, the network has diverse health facilities in the form of Nursing Homes, Long Term Acute Care Centers, Cancer Resource Centers, and Centers for Rehabilitation, which virtually allows the organization to meet its health targets in service delivery. The group is also concerned with the general health status of the nation whereby it has been actively involved in educating the masses on intelligent ways of leading a progressively healthy life. United Healthcare Group has invested over $5.7 million in the family healthcare where it has established interactive programs such as the Wellness Online Contest, which inspires individual families to prepare healthy meals. The long-term effect of this approach is seen to stimulate healthy decision making in conjunction with the provision of patient safety and delivery of appropriate care. According to Lagomarsino et al. (2012), the organization also announced its intention to expand its accountable care contracts portfolio from $20 to $50 billion in light of mushrooming of the number of insurers transitioning to the contracts, which denote the possibilities of reimbursement if quality and cost effective approaches are not implemented. Additionally, this incorporates the adoption of value-based systems, which is aligned with the clinical strategies and products provided by the organization. Constitutionally, this model observes the fundamentals of the Affordable Care Act, which incorporates employer-sponsored Medicare and Medicaid insurance schemes.

Strategic Plan for Resource Management

Proficiency in supervisory measures denotes the success of an organization as it enforces the essence of accountability. As a result, the United Healthcare Group has published real-time data on their health challenges, their healthcare products, services, and wellness programs. The investment in the exceptional personalized service to clients and their families who have been affected by cancer has demanded the admission of state of the art health professional. Optum Health Cancer Support, a by-product of the organization, has elevated the status of United Health Group due to the positive cancer-free feedbacks that are reported annually. Physicians are also highly trained on how to establish bonds with their patients who are essential in creating better coordination between specialists leading to timely recoveries.

The advent of the Center for Nursing Advancement acted as a precedence for dynamic engagements of nurses in their professions through training, mentorship, avoiding career burnouts and inculcating a culture of high standards. In order to prevent the risk of high employee turnover, the company has enacted policies that sustain the motivation levels of workers such as introducing incentives in the form of private lodgings, travel allowance, and bonus. The aversion of employee turnovers significantly diminished the operating costs of hiring and placement costs of healthcare professionals (Van den Heede et al., 2013). Moreover, the training techniques employed at United Healthcare are poised to ensure the health care modernization that is evidently manifested through the unique facets of the workforce. Innovative care delivery models also serve to entice health care consumers, and the prolonged interaction with this novelty creates assurance of customer satisfaction leading to brand loyalty.

Summing up, United Healthcare seems on track towards revolutionizing and overriding the conventional approach of service delivery. Key emphasis has been placed on the strategic planning for the resource management, nurse staffing and network development, which have proven to be the pillars of the success of the organization. Additionally, the pioneering measures adopted by the organization have propelled it to greater heights where its practices epitomize what is to constitute an ideal healthcare framework.

References

Lagomarsino, G., Garabrant, A., Adyas, A., Muga, R., & Otoo, N. (2012). Moving towards universal health coverage: health insurance reforms in nine developing countries in Africa and Asia.T The Lancet,T 380(9845), 933-943.

United Health Group (2009). Modernizing Health Care: Summary Annual Report. Retrieved from: http://www.unitedhealthgroup.com/~/media/F8DCC25D77824668ACA0C584492458AD.ashx

Van den Heede, K., Florquin, M., Bruyneel, L., Aiken, L., Diya, L., Lesaffre, E., & Sermeus, W. (2013). Effective strategies for nurse retention in acute hospitals: a mixed method study.T International Journal of Nursing Studies,T 50(2), 185-194.