Why Choose Harris County Hospital District as Health Facility - Case Study Example

Introduction Harris County Hospital District (HCHD) operates in the densest population of high healthcare systems. To compete favourably, HCHD has opted to provide top-notch-care delivered through talented professionals and has also increased its focus on optimizing its operational efficiency. For a long time, HCHD used an old mainframe system that limited the organization’s ability to grow or upgrade its IT capabilities. To remain relevant to the competitive status, HCHD made a commitment to significantly invest in its IT infrastructure. This has in turn enabled HCHD to increase data transporting across the healthcare organization and provide the capabilities required to automate processes. All these success relating to IT applications can be accredited to the Oracle PeopleSoft Enterprises applications (Harris County Hospital District, 2010). Why choose HCHD as health facility? Harris County Hospital District is a unique type of health care facility and differs from other types of health care centres mainly because of the following reasons: it offers a clinical program for the residents of Harris County; it also acts as a training and education facility for those students that aspire to make it in the medical professional. Its patients find also find it easy to use their facilities because of the drugs information HCHD provides to them. Although medical care is not free at their facilities, there is financial assistance for those who qualify for the same. Lastly, it does not charge service fee to patients in the Healthcare for the Homeless program or other insurance plans (Harris County Hospital District, 2010). Organizational assessment To improve the performance of any organization, it is helpful to assess the current performance of the organization. Assessment can either be planned, systematic, or explicit. Harris County Hospital District has often used tools such as comprehensive questionnaires, SWOT analysis, diagnostic Model along with comparison of results to various ‘best practices or industry standards. SWOT analysis entails evaluating the possible strengths, weaknesses, opportunities or even threats that the organization may be facing at present or may face in the future. On the other hand, organizational diagnostic model involves identifying activities that should take place in the organization, performing standards for various domains as individual positions, teams, projects, processes, functions, programs, and the organization. In monitoring performance, identifying issues that should be taken into consideration is of more significance as this helps in suggesting the possible actions that can be taken to address the possible risks. Evaluation of the organization’s success can then be evaluated (Niles, 2010). Improving organizational performance To improve its organizational performance, certain approaches have been considered but these can only be effective if implemented comprehensively and remain focused on the organizational results. HCHD employees feel empowered due to the increased online data access provided by PeopleSoft Enterprises Human Capital Management Suite applications. This means that the staff knows where their records are and are therefore in a position to update their personal information at any time. It also hosts a balanced scorecard; benchmarking, business process re-engineering that involves redesigning the organization’s structure to achieve increased performance. ISO9000; compels it, just like the other organizations, to adhere to the basic standards of quality, strategic planning; where the organization implements action plans that ensure achievement of goals and objectives and responsibilities (McNamara, 2010). Leadership organization in HCHD Integrating leadership into HCHD’s organizational programs has been no easy task but the idea has proven itself essential for the staff’s and members’ communication with the decision-making body of the program. Because of this matter, the physicians are always engaged at the point of service and their evaluation is within the continuum of service so that they are not disjointed from it. The facility has representatives responsible for the establishment of protocol and framework for the delineation of evidence for the system. Further expanding the channel of communication with the leadership, it has increased the locus of control and authority for the implementation of the clinical processes and resolution of clinical difficulties. Physicians at the helm of governance structure increase their chances of owning protocol development, quality determination, evidence-based practice and outcome determination and most importantly, performance evaluation. The system should also cater for the consumers’ complaints. This is important because the consumer is a determining factor to any system, be it a profiting body or not. Satisfying the needs of the members and staff is therefore the very first step to achieving improved performance and further increases the systems’ client base. This has been proven to be true as customers are believed to bring their friends over or even their family relations. These factors see to it that the set standards are met and that in their modification, they achieve the delivery system objective to strengthen the links between the providers of health care. Not to be forgotten is the harmonization of the service to be delivered and those of the organization (O’Grady, 2008). Accreditation and compliance to standards and performance The compliance of any organization to the provided regulations is paramount to their provision of quality products and services to clients. The Harris County Hospital District’s School of Diagnostic Medical Sonography recently received accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP). This makes it the only hospital based program in Texas to currently have achieved this designation. Accreditation helps health facilities to address quality control issues. It has also helped HCHD demonstrate high commitment to high-quality performance which benefits patients and health care professionals alike. Attaining accreditation gives an organization some benefits. These benefits are related to better risk management and risk reduction, the provision of education on beast practices to improve business operations, and improved staff recruitments and development. Some insurers look for Commission accreditation and HCHD is lucky to have attained this stature. HCHD boasts of an integrated PeopleSoft Enterprise Supply chain and financial applications that has enabled it to cut the average length of its procure-to-pay cycle from approximately 131 days to just 38 days. Previously, this required the staff to manually complete a triplicate form and then physically walk the document to the necessary parties for approval signatures. In addition to this, HCHD implemented electronic data interchange capabilities to manage patient supply orders-fully automating the procure-to-pay process for these routinely replenished items to just 34-hour cycle. Overall, HCHD has automated 58% of its purchase order lines. Purchasing staff members now only manually process exceptions or special request, which has eliminated redundant overhead costs related to ordering everyday supplies. Risk management in HCHD The main aim of any system or firm is to make profit; however, minimal. It is therefore imperative that HCHD be able to reduce risks that results into reduced costs in either earnings or expenses. It is therefore paramount that the organization strives to avoid factors that threaten its existence. In trying to avoid risks, HCHD should also do risk adjustments. Risk adjustment is an empirical approach that involves using condition specific risk factors and outcome specific models. This means adjusting the resources available to suit the current circumstances of risky undertakings. Collecting information is not only used for comparing the outcomes and costs of the organization, the two are used in determining which medical practices are safe to carry out and how they affect the life of the patient and employees. This in turn reduces risks that could either be costly in damages or in recovering the set objectives of the system. Appropriate decision-making and adjustments of ratings are used in avoiding risks that could be experienced by HCHD. Another factor that is also primary to avoiding risks is the impact decisions that the contract is administered as expected without failure on one’s part. Risks also can be minimized by eliminating the impact of distribution that can either be through the channel or individual members and staff. The organization can also manage risks by ensuring equity levels, appropriate reinsurance protection, emergence of earnings, and emergence of expenses. Public safety is also a matter to consider in ensuring that the risk does not become out of hand and affect even those who may not be involved in the quagmire. Apart from taking care of risks in the organization, the other objective is quality performance achieved through psychological safety, teams’ relationships and status, capturing data, and involving other modalities essential in offering alternative ways of achieving the set goals of the system (Mclaughlin & Kaluzny, 2006). In conclusion organizations should find it useful to develop the necessary strategic objectives that will provide a guide to their activities and direct them toward achieving the set goals of both the organization and those of the employees. Also essential in improving efficiency and effectiveness are the key performance measures and the targets that the organization is interested in accomplishing. The performance of its employees should be in relation to previous to provide a better assessment forum for further actions on strategies relating to goals and objectives of the organization and minimizing possible risks involved (McNamara, 2010). In order to maintain high standards of efficiency and care across the organization, HCHD needs to minimize the number of staff vacancies, in particular, clinical vacancies. HCHD’s online portal has tried solving this but the efforts are not enough in recruiting nursing resources which are normally in short supply. Last, the organization should come up with executable plans that should easily see the face of attainment (Harris County Hospital District). Appendix I: Health organizations and their products In addition to Harris County Hospital District, some of the well-known examples of health organizations include Public Health Information Network PHIN, the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS). These are under the leadership of Centre for Disease control and Prevention, CDC. These are mainly involved in Counseling, Testing, and Referral (CTR) programs. The organization’s main interest is research on diseases and other epidemics that affect humans but, much interest is shifted toward the deadly HIV/AIDS that has hit man kind despite campaigns to educate him or her of its deadly effect (John Hopkins University, 2010). California Pacific Medical Centre offers advanced care and clinical trials that include cancer services, high-risk pregnancy, emergency services, and also houses a joint replacement center (California Pacific Medical Center, 2010). Appendix II: Milestone developments in organizational performance Developments that ensure authenticity, integrity, and confidentiality in clients and the staff are electronic records in organizations. These include validation of systems to ensure accuracy, protection of records to enable the ease for retrieval when need be, limiting access to authorized persons only and may also involve the use of devices check that determine the validity of input data. Organizations have incorporated the following in the signature manifestations: signed electronic records that contain information associated with the signing that will vividly indicate the following details: the printed name of the signer, the date and time the signature was taken and the meaning attached to it. Second, the items identified in this section shall be subjected to the same controls as for the electronic records. In addition to these, it shall also include human readable forms of the electronic records. This gives an upper hand to the system because the signatures executed to electronic records will ensure that they are not a victim to signature excise, copying or even falsely transferring electronic records by ordinary means. Assembled and having an effect in building members’ confidentiality in the systems of data records and the integrity of an organization’s performance. What a milestone (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2010). Appendix III: Components of performance management systems Components of performance management can be as varied depending on how an organization defines its components. Such components could include the need for a different framework, a balanced scorecard framework, corporate performance. Most important is the mission of the organization, a defined plan that should guide the organization’s activities. To be monitored is the necessary execution that should bring the plans into reality and ways through which the above elements of corporate performance will be laid into action. Lastly, an analysis done to refine the defined elements to provide for improved service delivery throughout the organization’s existence (O’Grady, 2008). References California Pacific Medical Center (2010). With you for life. Retrieved from http://www.cpmc.org/ Harris County Hospital District (2010). Retrieved from http://www.hchdonline.com http://managementhelp.org/org_perf/org_perf.htm http://www.ehow.com/list_7394733_different-types-health-care-organizations_.html John Hopkins University (2010). Retrieved from http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/ Kimmons, R. (2010). eHow: What are the different types of health care organizations? Retrieved from Langone Medical Center (2010). Training sites. Retrieved from http://emergency.med.nyu.edu/education/residency/training-sites McLaughlin, C., & Kaluzny, A. [Eds.]. (2006). Continuous quality improvement in health care (3rd ed). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett. McNara, C. (2010). Free Management Library: Organizational Performance Management. Retrieved from Niles, J.N. (2010). Basics of the US health care system. Massachusetts: Jones & Bartlett Learning. O’Grady, P.T. (2008). Interdisciplinary shared governance: Integrating practice, transforming health care. (2nd ed). Massachusetts: Jones & Bartlett Learning. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2010). Food and Drug Administration. Retrieved from http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm?cfrpart=11 Read More