Create a 7-10 page report that will help the Director of Strategic Planning at a health care organization understand current trends related to service line management, leadership, patient experience, employee relations, and quality improvement.
In the current health care environment, patient satisfaction is a key metric by which reimbursement is determined. When organizations and leadership fail to consider the patient experience when planning organizational strategies, they risk losing income (via reimbursement) and business volume (via patients deciding to find new or alternate providers). While leadership may not interact with patients on a daily basis, there is a lot they can do to improve and impact the patient experience, which may include bringing patients and leaders together to better understand their experiences, creating a formalized definition of patient satisfaction, involving patients and families in improvement efforts, improving employee engagement, and ensuring staff are provided with regular customer service training.
Leadership is vital to every industry. Leaders are important catalysts in the organization’s ability to establish a vision, formulate a strategic plan, motivate staff, influence culture, and achieve business and department goals. Leaders within the organization who oversee daily operations can impact quality efforts through daily rounds, direct communication and contact with front-line staff, and follow-through with employees who voluntarily report safety and quality concerns.
As the transition from volume to value continues, health care organizations are implementing a variety of strategies to cut costs and improve quality. Included in these strategies is the management of clinical service lines. The goal of each service line should be focused on utilizing evidence-based medicine or clinical pathways to reduce care variation, resulting in improved patient experience and outcomes. Challenges to service line management include (but are not limited to) who will lead, what support they have from senior leadership within the organization, buy-in from clinicians, and information technology.
A popular management approach to service line management is the dyad model. This model utilizes a business leader who oversees and manages the operational aspects of the service line, as well as a physician leader who oversees the clinical practices. To be effective, the dyad model requires transparency and communication, which ultimately lead to trust and credibility with staff. Positive, productive working relationships in the service line are founded on trust, credibility, communication, and transparency. The benefit of this relationship can be seen in the roles working together toward setting and achieving a strategic vision. Working toward the strategic vision of the organization is advantageous as targets are met, tactics are completed, quality improves, and patients are satisfied with their experience.
Demonstration of Proficiency
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the course competencies through the following assessment scoring guide criteria:
- Competency 1: Describe when and how the senior leader would directly impact health care operations.
- Analyze the role of the health care leader in regard to organizational quality improvement.
- Competency 2: Analyze the impact of the various success factors of a health care organization.
- Analyze health care leadership and its impact on patients’ experiences.
- Competency 3: Analyze the concept of competitive strength by considering efficiency and effectiveness of organizational processes.
- Analyze service line management and the challenges associated with this organizational structure.
- Explain the importance of employee and provider relations on the overall success of the organization from the service line perspective.
- Competency 4: Apply management concepts to lead an efficient health care system.
- Explain implications for the organization if patient experience is not a strategic priority.
- Analyze the pros and cons of leading the service line using the dyad management model.
- Competency 5: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and respectful of the diversity, dignity, and integrity of others and is consistent with health care professionals.
- Write following APA style for in-text citations, quotes, and references.
- Write clearly and logically, with correct use of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics.
Preparation
This assessment focuses on various models, strategies, and concepts related to strategic planning, leadership, and organizational success. If you have not yet done so, it may be helpful to check your knowledge around these topics by completing the activity in the Leadership, Strategy, and Organizational Success section in Assessment 3.
Instructions
While not entirely unique, leadership in health care differs from that of other service industries. Several unique characteristics of the health care industry include rapid and constant change, reduced reimbursements, political scrutiny, heavy regulation, a diverse workforce, and being tasked with the health and well-being of those who patronize the facility (often requiring life-and-death decisions).
For this assessment, consider an organization (this can either be applied to your current place of practice or within the context of Vila Health) is three years into their ten-year strategic plan, and they are updating it to align with current industry practice and standards. The Director of Strategic Planning has asked you to research several topics related to service line management, leadership, patient experience, employee relations, and quality improvement, as these topics are top of mind for the staff, patients, payers, and regulatory agencies.
Include the following in your report:
- Analyze health care leadership and its impact on patient experience.
- Discuss why the patient experience is a critical issue for health care operations.
- Identify the senior leader’s role in impacting patient experience.
- Explain implications for the organization if patient experience is not a strategic priority.
- Describe potential signs of patient dissatisfaction.
- Identify areas that would be impacted.
- Analyze service line management and the challenges associated with this organizational structure.
- Discuss service lines within the health care setting (for example, what they are, why they are formed, how they impact organizational success).
- Discuss how clinical departments were managed prior to the development of service lines.
- Describe the changes required in hierarchal structures to allow for more effective management.
- Analyze the pros and cons of leading the service line using the dyad management model.
- Describe the cultural shift involved in adopting a dyad management model.
- Explain the importance of employee and provider relations on the overall success of the organization from the service line perspective.
- Identify the support functions provided to a service line and the importance of these functions on its overall success.
- Identify two resources (one must be culture) necessary for the service line director to be effective.
- Analyze the role of the health care leader in regard to organizational quality improvement.
- Analyze the impact of quality management on the overall success of the organization and why leadership is critical to improving quality (for example, the importance of quality as a strategy and implications for the organization if quality is not managed).
- Discuss the role the leader has in quality management (for example, culture, improvement cycles, identifying opportunities for improvement).
- Discuss the benefit of management rounding as it relates to identifying and managing quality issues within the organization.
Write clearly and logically, with correct use of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics.
- Apply the principles of effective composition.
- Determine the proper application of the rules of grammar and mechanics.
Write following APA style for in-text citations, quotes, and references.
- Determine the proper application of APA formatting requirements and scholarly writing standards.
- Assess the relevance and credibility of information sources.
Submission Requirements
- Written communication: Writing is clear, precise, scholarly, and free of errors that detract from the overall message. Concepts flow in a logical order.
- References: A minimum of three scholarly references.
- Length: 7–10 pages.
- APA: Correct use of APA style and formatting. Refer to the APA resources in the NHS Learner Success Lab (located in the courseroom navigation menu) if you have questions about APA style or formatting.
Expert Solution Preview
Introduction:
As a medical professor in charge of creating college assignments and providing answers for medical college students, understanding the current trends related to service line management, leadership, patient experience, employee relations, and quality improvement is crucial. In this report, we will analyze these topics and help the Director of Strategic Planning at a healthcare organization understand their current trends.
Analyzing the Impact of Healthcare Leadership on Patient Experience:
The patient experience is a critical issue for healthcare operations as patient satisfaction is a metric that determines reimbursement. When leadership fails to consider the patient experience when planning organizational strategies, they risk losing income and business volume. Senior leaders play a crucial role in impacting patient experience as they oversee the organization’s strategies and motivate staff to improve quality. If patient experience is not a strategic priority, the organization may face several implications such as reduced reimbursement, higher staff turnover, and lower patient satisfaction levels. Potential signs of patient dissatisfaction include negative reviews, lower patient volume, and increased staff complaints.
Analyzing Service Line Management and Challenges:
Service lines focus on utilizing evidence-based medicine or clinical pathways to reduce care variation, resulting in improved patient experience and outcomes. Challenges associated with service line management include who will lead, support from senior leadership, clinician buy-in, and information technology. Prior to developing service lines, clinical departments were managed hierarchically, which was less effective. To allow for more effective management, changes are required in hierarchal structures. The dyad management model’s pros and cons can be analyzed to identify whether it is suitable for leading service lines. Adopting the dyad management model requires a cultural shift, and its success depends on transparency, communication, trust, and credibility with staff.
Importance of Employee and Provider Relations on the Overall Success of the Organization:
Support functions provided to a service line are crucial to its overall success. Two necessary resources for a service line director to be effective include culture and communication. Employee and provider relations are crucial to the overall success of the organization as they improve team morale, create more productive working relationships, and improve employee retention. It is essential to involve patients and families in improvement efforts, improve employee engagement, and ensure staff receives regular customer service training.
Analyzing the Role of Healthcare Leadership in Organizational Quality Improvement:
The impact of quality management on the overall success of the organization is huge as quality is a critical factor in determining reimbursement. Leaders play a crucial role in improving quality by establishing a culture of improvement, identifying areas of opportunities, and implementing improvement cycles. Management rounds can be used to identify and manage quality issues within the organization, which contributes to improving the quality of care and patient outcomes.
Conclusion:
Leadership is vital to every industry, and healthcare leadership is unique due to several factors such as rapid and constant change, reduced reimbursements, heavy regulation, political scrutiny, diverse workforce, and being tasked with the health and well-being of those who patronize the facility. Thus, to be successful, healthcare organizations must consider patient experience, service line management, quality improvement, and employee relations. It is crucial to involve patients, providers, and employees in improvement efforts to improve and impact the patient experience. Healthcare leaders must create a culture of improvement, identify areas of opportunities, and implement improvement cycles to improve quality, which is crucial in determining reimbursement. Proper management rounds can be used as a tool to identify and manage quality issues within the organization.
