ANSWERED!! Research a health care organization or network that spans several states with in the United States (United Healthcare, Vanguard, Banner Health, etc.). Assess the readiness of the health care organization or network you chose

Research a health care organization or network that spans several states with in the United States (United Healthcare, Vanguard, Banner Health, etc.). Assess the readiness of the health care organization or network you chose in regard to meeting the health care needs of citizens in the next decade.

Prepare a 1,000-1,250 word paper that presents your assessment and proposes a strategic plan to ensure readiness. Include the following:

Describe the health care organization or network.
Describe the organization’s overall readiness based on your findings.
Prepare a strategic plan to address issues pertaining to network growth, nurse staffing, resource management, and patient satisfaction.
Identify any current or potential issues within the organizational culture and discuss how these issues may affect aspects of the strategic plan.
Propose a theory or model that could be used to support implementation of the strategic plan for this organization. Explain why this theory or model is best.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

Expert Answer and Explanation

Organization Analysis: Banner Health

Banner Health is a healthcare organization based in Phoenix, Arizona. The organization was established in 1999, when two healthcare organizations, Samaritan Health System and Lutheran Health Systems merged, to provide healthcare services to patients with diverse healthcare needs. When the healthcare organization started, it had its operations in fourteen states being served by around 22,000 employees. The organization has since grown with its network having 28 facilities and over 50,000 employed staff serving six states and is regarded as one of the largest healthcare organizations in the country. The organization’s mission is “making health care easier, so life can be better.” The organization has partnered with Integrated Health Management Systems and MedData, with the aim of using their technology to reach out to more patients with different healthcare needs (Banner Health, n.d.). The organization has also partnered with universities like the University of Arizona to enhance academic medicine.

The organization’s overall readiness

Assessing from the findings collected, the organization is adequately equipped to deliver care to patients across the different regions where it has branches. The organization has used different strategic features to enhance its capability of providing care efficiently to patients across the various states where it operates. For example, the organization uses strategic partnerships to facilitate its technological advancement, which is used for delivering prompt services to patients regardless of their location. The organization, by partnering with learning institutions, is assured of having a skilled workforce that can provide quality services to patients. For such networks, finding strategic partners can be an essential element in the efficient delivery of quality services to clients covered (Lewis et al., 2017).

The network also has a sizable workforce (over 50,000 employees) who are dedicated to delivering care to patients in six states. Healthcare providers are the primary asset for a network that is dedicated to delivering quality care. By having a large workforce, Banner health can offer timely and quality care to patients across their area of coverage. The availability of specialized facilities like surgical care units also allows the network to deliver specialized care to their covered patients. The availability of specialized care facilities is a factor that many healthcare users consider before subscribing to a suitable care plan. Overall, the network can be deemed to have the capacity to meet the healthcare needs of its clients.

Strategic plan to address issues in Banner Health

From the analysis done on the network, the network can be considered to have a strong foundation that can propel its growth even further. The following strategic plan can however be used to aid the growth of the network and deal with some of the potential issues that it may face. It was observed that the network sold off some of its branches which initially spanned in fourteen different states to the current six states. This move was good in that it allowed the network to have focused care in those six states. With the increase in capacity, the network should now reconsider spreading its branches to other states by looking for more strategic partners who share a similar vision with Banner Health. Strategic partnerships can allow the network to grow with the addition of little capital involved if any since the partner will come with existing assets and client base (Lewis et al., 2018). Looking for areas where there is a potential gap in coverage can also be useful during the expansion process. This will allow the network to offer their services to those who are not yet covered.

By partnering with institutions of higher learning, the hospital can capitalize on the partnership to identify nursing students who have a passion for serving in such a network. Through such initiatives, the network can meet its nurse staffing needs (Westwood et al., 2018). The network can also consider offering better terms for their nursing staff as a means of attracting other outside nurses to enroll in the network. Nurses are always motivated to work for organizations that offer better working terms (Körner et al., 2015). Managing the nursing staff through integrated systems can also assist with the efficient distribution of nurses on a case by case basis. Such systems allow the effective allocation of the available nursing staff without causing staff burnout.

Resource management is another problem usually faced by large health care networks. To assist in resource management, the use of technology to track the allocation and utilization of available resources, for example, specialized medical equipment, can be helpful to the network. The addition of frequently used facilities may also be required to avoid any conflict or scenarios which may affect the delivery of healthcare services to patients.

Patient satisfaction should be the primary consideration for Banner health. A satisfied patient in most cases translates to a better image of the organization and in turn, subscriptions of more clients to the network (Meesala & Paul, 2018). One of the strategies that can be used by Banner Health is to consider training its staff on new evidence-based approaches to delivering quality care to patients. Increasing the resources used by the network might also help in ensuring that clients receive quality care whenever and wherever they want. Tracking the patients’ health outcomes and offering timely solutions to any arising issues, using technological tools can also be a good strategy in ensuring that they remain satisfied with the services provided.

With these strategies, the network is likely to grow even further, providing effective and quality care to clients.

Potential issues within the organizational culture

One of the main issues which might be faced by the organization, especially when expanding its operations, is the aspect of controlling or managing the diverse culture both for the employees and the clients. Research has shown that multicultural organizations have more cases of employee conflict, which can derail the delivery of quality services (Mannion & Davies 2018). Likewise, in healthcare, the delivery of culturally competent care to patients is essential in enhancing patient satisfaction. Therefore, having a system that can deal with cultural issues or can raise cultural competence within the organization, can be of help in improving the working environment and quality of care delivered to the network’s clients.

Another potential issue is the mode of communication between the employees working for the network. With the size of the workforce, it is expected that communication challenges may arise. Coordinating the relevant employees within the network to deliver the required services might be an issue without proper establishment and management of the communication system. This can be a source of conflict or at times may lead to inefficiencies in the delivery of care to patients.

Theory to be used to support the implementation of the strategic plan for Banner Health.

Systems theory approach is the most suitable theory selected to support the implementation of the strategic plan. According to Anderson (2017), systems theory supposes that organizations are entities that comprise of working interrelated systems that are influenced by the environment they operate in. As a result, organizations must transform to fit the changes in the environment they operate in. With the strategic plan being to grow the network further, it must change with the new markets they want to venture in. How they are going to adjust their resources, staff, and operations to fit the environment of those new markets will be essential to the successful execution of the strategic plan.

References

Anderson, B. R. (2016). Improving health care by embracing Systems Theory. The Journal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery, 152(2), 593-594.

Banner Health. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://bannerhealth.mediaroom.com/meddata.

Mannion, R., & Davies, H. (2018). Understanding organizational culture for healthcare quality improvement. BMJ, 363, k4907.

Körner, M., Wirtz, M. A., Bengel, J., & Göritz, A. S. (2015). Relationship of organizational culture, teamwork and job satisfaction in interprofessional teams. BMC health services research, 15(1), 243.

Lewis, V. A., Tierney, K. I., Colla, C. H., & Shortell, S. M. (2017). The new frontier of strategic alliances in health care: New partnerships under accountable care organizations. Social Science & Medicine, 190, 1-10.

Meesala, A., & Paul, J. (2018). Service quality, consumer satisfaction and loyalty in hospitals: Thinking for the future. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 40, 261-269.

Westwood, G., Richardson, A., Latter, S., Macleod Clark, J., & Fader, M. (2018). Building clinical academic leadership capacity: sustainability through partnership. Journal of Research in Nursing, 23(4), 346-357.

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