Challenges that Leaders of Today’s Health Care Organizations Face
Health care is one of the critical building pillars of socio-economic and political development in any society. Its accessibility, availability, and quality is vital in determining key socio-economic factors such as population growth, quality of life, lifespan, and economic productivity. The centrality of health care in achieving a society’s social, economic, and political agenda has made one of the primary focus areas by both leaders and the public. The growing interest in the industry is evidenced by the clamor for universal healthcare coverage in various countries including the United States. The U.S. passed the Affordable Care Act; a landmark policy that comes with increased monitoring and service quality assessment by federal and local authorities including agencies and commissions (Manchikanti et al., 2017). Consequently, today’s health care executives and professional staff including registered nurses and physicians are under enormous pressure to deliver quality services. However, they are faced with a myriad of challenges that hamper the delivery of quality healthcare services.
Challenges Faced by the Organizations’ Leaders
One of the primary challenges faced by the management of the health care organization is staff shortages. The leading contributing factors to this stressor in our hospital and across many others in the country, as has been corroborated by research studies, are stressful working environment, lack of effective financial and other job-related incentives, and demographical changes. With minimal growth in job incentives especially wages, essential hospital personnel including physicians and registered nurses are increasingly becoming scarce in the job market as more people opt for other professions perceived to have better incentives (Buerhaus et al., 2007). These factors, coupled with the hospital’s financial constraints, constantly pose significant challenges when it comes to recruiting the right personnel. Consequently, the facility does not effectively accomplish its goals and objectives due to understaffing in key service areas.
The second challenge that the facility’s leadership is facing is the aftereffects including fallouts from the recent merger of the facility with a medical technology company. Merging the two organizations was aimed at improving the operational and financial footprints of the organization. It was also supposed to strategically position the company within the medical technology market, which is has gained a lot of traction over the past decade and is projected to grow significantly in the coming years. These new product lines are aimed at consolidating the company’s services with the view of targeting new and emerging markets while also establishing a presence in some of the existing markets.
Impacts of the Challenges
As supported by research studies, the inadequacy in the number of essential personnel at our department has significantly constrained our quest to deliver health care services and improve the quality of life of our patients (Buerhaus et al., 2007). Our service delivery system is increasingly becoming inefficient and ineffective in meeting our objective of increasing positive patient outcomes such as reduced mortality and morbidity rates (Aiken et al., 2002). These conditions are unsuitable for attracting new talents within our folds. The job market for highly qualified and skilled medical practitioners is already shrinking and becoming competitive. The current departmental situation may further raise the stakes for recruiting new personnel to join our team. Moreover, the department may find it difficult to retain the top talents already working at the company because, as studies have shown, wages and working conditions are some of the leading causes of high employee turnover, and many would-be professionals giving the field a wide berth.
The merger severely constrained our financial capability in the short run despite future projections showing that the company will gain massively from it through new and innovative products. The department can only implement minimal projects that do not require huge financial layoffs and those whose return on investment will be achieved in the long-term. The company’s executive management has directed expenditure on new strategies and plans to incorporate the new systems of leadership and operations. The company has spent on change management, employee training, and new healthcare technologies researches and product development. The assimilation period has been tumultuous with some employees not embracing the changing landscape of our operations. Mergers are inherently plagued by conflicting cultures while some employees are also resistant to change.
Fostering Inclusion and Improving Communication and Collaboration
The challenges faced by the organization does not diminish the urgent need for quality health care service provision. The fundamental components of quality healthcare services revolve around patient safety and care. Studies have shown that these two can only be achieved from effective communication and collaboration among hospital staff including the executive management (Buerhaus et al., 2007). This will ensure that the change process necessitated by the merger is managed effectively to allow for smooth transition and merging of the two organizational cultures without further fallouts and tensions.
To build trust and cohesion within the organization, there is need for the creation of an open and group communication climate and culture. Such a culture and climate will allow employees to express themselves freely and give their inputs without the fear of repercussions by the senior management or alienation by colleagues. Improved internal relations, when wired into the DNA of the company by incorporation into the organizational or departmental vision and mission statements, can give the employees a greater sense of belonging. Employee retention and attraction of new top talents will be easier. Moreover, there will be a greater workplace cohesion and teamwork, which will be critical in efficient and effective task completion and work schedule management. These are the recipes for quality healthcare service delivery.
Planning of social events that bring together employees from different departments is a great way of creating a greater sense of community among the employees and building stronger teams. Interactive events such as team building exercises, holiday parties, and office picnics among others are effective platforms for fostering communication and collaboration among team members and employees (Ohio University, n.d). Social interactions are important avenues that the organization can use to diffuse the cultural tensions that are inherent in mergers.
The management should also lead by example by reflecting values of collaboration and effective communication in the decisions they make daily. They should be leaders of change by embracing cultural diversities and uniqueness of every situation and problems brought before them by the employees. Being sensitive to employee needs is critical in serving as an example to employees. Moreover, the management should invest in open communication and collaboration training (Kolzow, 2014). This will equip the employees with the necessary skills needed to sustain an open communication and collaborative climate and environment within the organization.
The recent merger and staffing shortage have plunged the organization into significant operational and financial challenges. In appreciation of the importance of healthcare in shaping a society’s social, political, and economy well-being, there is need for the organization’s leaders to create and foster an effective communication and collaboration culture by leading from the front. The leaders should not only invest in staff training but should also organize social events, which are effective in inculcating a sense of belonging and community.
References
Aiken, L. H. et al. (2002). Hospital nurse staffing and patient mortality, nurse burnout, and job dissatisfaction. Journal of the American Medical Association, 288(16): 1987 –1993
Buerhaus, P. I. et al. (2007). Impact of the nurse shortage on hospital patient care: Comparative perspectives. Health Affairs, 26(3), pp. 853–862. Retrieved from: https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/pdf/10.1377/hlthaff.26.3.853
Kolzow, D. R. (2014). Leading from within: Building Organizational Leadership Capacity. N.p. Retrieved from: https://www.iedconline.org/clientuploads/Downloads/edrp/Leading_from_Within.pdf
Manchikanti, L., Helm, I. S., Benyamin, R. M. & Hirsch, J. A. (2017). A Critical Analysis of Obamacare: Affordable Care or Insurance for Many and Coverage for Few? Pain Physician, 20(3), pp. 111-138.
Ohio University. (n.d). Seven Steps to Improving Organizational Communication. Retrieved from: https://onlinemasters.ohio.edu/blog/seven-steps-to-improving-organizational-communication/