Healthcare Management Intermountain Healthcare (IHC). Paper Example

Management involves the plan of integrating resources in an organization and make sure that the organization's goals are achieved. Healthcare management is one of the most critical management, especially when it comes to private healthcare institutions. Such an institution is focused on two primary goals, profitability and the quality of health provided. The provision of high-quality health demands financial expenditure, which is unwelcoming for profitability. For example, quality health is expected to be given by highly qualified and experienced doctors, and such doctors demand higher payment. Nevertheless, most healthcare institution has made this possible, Intermountain healthcare (IHC) has established a strategy to make sure that both of these goals are achieved.

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Alignment Strategy

The alignment strategy involves the action of bringing business divisions and staff members in such that they work together toward the achievement of business objectives. IHC's primary goal is the quality and profitability of the organization. Most health institutions have established a way of payment where a physician or a nurse is paid as per the amount of time they spend on work. While the main objective is high quality and time of expenditures on hospitals indicate the quantity of time. To make sure that the quality services goal is achieved the IHC has established a quality based method of rewarding the workers. Generally, the institution provides payment based on the provision of the right care rather than the provision of more consideration.

The institution has established a quality measures strategy that encourages the provision of the best care. Such measures include patient quality perception standards, which generally include the patients' opinion on the quality of health they got from the healthcare institution. The hospital also provided enough well-advanced resources and also have established training and incentives for the patients who are more engaged in a healthy lifestyle. Finally, they have developed a method in which a healthcare provider is paid for the services provided in addition to the incentives for meeting the expected quality standard. This, way both patients and healthcare presented are focused on the quality of their health and also aimed at the profitability of the organization (Bohmer, Edmondson, & Feldman2002).

The strategy also involved associating health insurance services with health provision services. The UCI did this to ensure the health of high-quality standards is delivered to the customers. Apart from the provision of health premiums, the organization has 22 hospitals, 25 health centers, and over 70 health clinics. They operate in such a way that people with the company's health insurance receive health services from the company's hospitals and health centers. The type of premium offered by the institution included setting aside resources to pay the patients that were more focused on being healthy over some time. The alignment strategy also involved a comprehensive approach that was aimed at achieving a similar goal, which was quality health for everyone. Therefore, patients are engaged in their health by receiving training on how to have a healthy life through eating and practicing.

Organization Culture Changes

The IHC organization's cultural changes originated from James. Initially, the culture was based on the traditional physician autonomy. Where the patient details were not necessarily required but the current sickness and problems were cured as par the doctors' assessment. However, the new culture of dealing with healthcare involved storing the patient's data over a long period. Generally, the institution had to store individual patients' information the medicine they used the previous problem and any chronic problem if any. All healthcare officers did not accept the new culture, but it proved to be more successful in the provision of quality health care services. Besides, the patients' details protocols of dealing with individual patients' problems were established. For example, in case a patient came to the hospital requiring an X-ray, the doctor had to access the information on how to deal with such a problem. Many medical practitioners argued that the system deprived the doctor's autonomy, even though it was optional. However, the change in culture proved to be more helpful since Health care quality improved.

Moreover, to increase the quality of health services, James and the compatriots introduced payment based on merit. The initial culture was that the employee should be paid based on the number of services that they provided and not the quality. The office also differentiated the management from the physicians. He argued that managers' thinks in term of cost per facility while the physicians are focused on the test and treatment per each patient and problems brought about by the patients. Hence, he worked on making sure that the two institutions remained independent of each other such that everyone will focus on what they consider to be necessary for the patient. Finally, there was a change in the culture that involves patients and healthcare practitioners. He brought about the culture of integrating patents training on their health and how to maintain a healthy life. Since the institution was a health insurer, a patient was given an incentive for being fit after a while.

Dr. James Overall Strategy and Short-Term Success

James strategy was "clinical integration," the policy was aimed at establishing a full physician responsibility. It involved having a clinical-outcome-tracking data system. Generally, the system included recording the data of different physician's performance over some time. For example, the hospital stored information of the patient who received treatment from a specific doctor and the outcome of the patient. The patient data is stored for an extended period, too, so in case the problem arises again, the hospital can trace the physician. By doing this, the quality of a physician could be gauged and tested according to the result of their services. After every two years, the institution made both the physicians and the clinical officers accountable for their performance. The move also helped the hospital to set specific goals. Moreover, the two managers brought about ways to increase the saving rather than passing it to the trustees. The conservation increased resources hence making clinical management stabilize financially.

In the short term, the strategy improved the quality of the health system and also increased the finance available. Therefore, the company could stand out against its competitors. Due to increased income, the health institution was able to charge the premium less. With low premium cost and high-quality health services, the company was ready to dominate Utah and southern Idaho health insurance market.

The Best Choice for Health Care

My choice of healthcare management is an all-inclusive method. The method involves setting goals as one team where everyone gives their proposal and the challenges affecting their line of work and how they feel that such problems can be dealt with by the organization (Feldman et al. 2016). This way, everyone will feel like they are part of the organization. Generally, the style of management requires a democratic management system where everyone is involved in changing organizational culture, setting goals, and proposing a way to provide quality health as a unit. The method makes people more focused on achieving quality health of the patients. The Alignment method is a reliable method where the top individuals set goals and strategies, and others have to follow without question. One can be sure that the employees in the IHC will work for the organization as far as they do not have other options; hence, if the opportunity to work in an institution that is not authoritative, they will choose it.

The alignment method is useful for IHC; however, it had several drawbacks though not to the employer and patients. To begin with, most of the employees were resistance to the process of maintaining healthcare. The nurse in the case study feels that this is a simple method that disrespects the autonomy of the employees. Employees had to follow specific objectives so that their services would be considered to be of high quality. On the other hand, there was no employee independence since they were made too responsible for the outcomes of their services in such that their method of doing work was observed for a long time. The technique is like always supervising employees' activities. Hence, the patient received quality health services concerning the employees' oppression. The patient quality perception should not be the measure of the physician's quality services since the patient could miss-interpreted their action. Generally, quality healthcare is necessary and essential, but the employees should not be forced to offer it.

References

Feldman, M. S., Khademian, A. M., Ingram, H., & Schneider, A. S. (2016). Ways of knowing and inclusive management practices. Public Administration Review, 66, 89-99.

Bohmer, R. M., Edmondson, A. C., & Feldman, L. (2002). Intermountain health care.