Health Care Organization Management Essay
- Discuss how quality is measured in terms of structure, process, and outcomes within a health care organization (HCO).
- Thinking in terms of an organization you previously worked for, currently work for, or would like to work for, identify some of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to the organization as it considers its future business goals.
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- Why is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regarding confidentiality of patient information important? Health Care Organization Management Essay.
Referring to a healthcare organization with which you are familiar, describe some of the most prevalent challenges it might have faced in implementing its electronic medical / health record system.
- Identify and discuss the key steps in the closing process that provide the most opportunity to make mistakes in processing account transactions. Why did you select these steps and what makes them confusing?
Make at least two (2) recommendations for improving the accuracy and reliability of the information in the gaps that you have identified Health Care Organization Management Essay
- Use the Internet to research the annual report of at least one (1) merchandising company. For example, while you can’t use this one, here is one from Walmart
Determine which costing method (Last In First Out [LIFO], First In First Out [FIFO], or weighted average cost) that is used to record inventory by your selected company.
Share three (3) advantages and three (3) disadvantages of using the type of costing method (LIFO, FIFO, and weighted average) that the company has implemented. Health Care Organization Management Essay.
Management of Health Care Organization
Student’s Names
Institution of Affiliation
Course
Date
- How Quality Is Measured In Terms Of Structure, Process, And Outcomes Within A Health Care Organization (HCO).
Measuring quality of healthcare in Health Care Organizations involves ascertaining the degree to which the Services provided by Health Care Organizations to the population or an individual has the ability to result in the desired outcome and remain consistent to professional knowledge. Thus, quality is measured in HCO by ascertaining the degree to which the services provided meet the domains of quality in terms of the structure put in place, the process used to offer the services and the general outcomes. Health Care Organization Management Essay.
The quality will also be measured by ascertaining how the structures put in place at any HCO must enhance maximum quality from certain healthcare unit with respect to the resources used through efficient service provision. Besides, the structures of an HCO will be measured on their capability of observing equity in healthcare delivery. This will involve ascertaining the level of equality in healthcare service provision to different patients with different physical characteristics other than the preference of care and clinical conditions.
The process used by HCO must be able to effective and efficient. This means that the quality will be measured by ascertaining the level of scientific evidence used to achieve the desired outcome Health Care Organization Management Essay. Besides, the level of quality achieved by the process will be measured by ascertaining the timeliness within which a patient obtains healthcare in terms of waiting time and delays.
The desired outcome of any service provided by the HCO must save a life, uphold patients and physician safety and must be patients centered. This means that the measurement of quality will seek to ascertain how such service meets the preferences and need of the patients through education, care, support, and management.
- SWOT Analysis of Houston Methodist Hospital
Strengths
It has a good expertise, research, and knowledge on managing chronic disease. The HCO also uses direct mail and order fulfillment system that enables it to provide efficient healthcare services. It also provides quality healthcare and marketing to the right patients.
Weaknesses,
The revenues of the HCO are affected by the continuous changes in government policies and Medicare. Equally, most of its revenue sources depend on recurring orders from clients and this exposes it to loos should customers fail to place subsequent orders. There is also a little barrier to entry into the HCO market, thus exposing it to the threat of new entrants Health Care Organization Management Essay.
Opportunities
The HCO banks on its financial strength, Research and Developments projects that has given it a mileage in the provision of healthcare service for chronic illness. Also, there is still room for expansion of its services to other healthcare sectors. Additionally, the HCO has the potential of increasing its revenue collection by selling its products and service to its current patients. It has the opportunity to rely on supplies and merchandiser to expand its growth
Threats
The HCO is struggling to cope with the dynamic technology that is revolutionizing healthcare provisions for chronic illness. The customers are also changing their preferences, thus affecting the re-order level of its products and services. The HCO is also facing competitive pricing pressures, adverse effects of mortality rates and customer transaction that threaten its success in achieving its goals Health Care Organization Management Essay. Additionally, the HCO is facing fierce competition within its market domain which are very difficult to achieve. Equally, the government has gained control over HCOs, thus limiting their budgetary expenses that would help them achieve their goals.
- Why the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regarding confidentiality of patient information important.
HIPAA is important because it emphasizes the need for all healthcare practitioners and professionals to uphold patient privacy and confidentiality when handling patient information. It also recognizes the fact that patient’s information is personal information and thus the patients have the right of ownership (Allen, 2013). HIPAA also makes it compulsory to seek patient’s consent before using patient information and restricts the access, transfer, sharing and alteration or storage of patient’s information to the intended use only. Thus, HIPAA serves to protect the confidentiality, privacy, and integrity of the patients in regard to medical information.
Some of the Most Prevalent Challenges Facing Houston Methodist Hospital in Implementing Its Electronic Medical / Health Record System.
Houston Methodist hospital is facing the challenge of misalignment of cost and benefits that arise from financial reimbursement in the process of implementing EHR/EMR system. Other challenges include clinical issues, concerns over patient’s privacy and confidentiality, system interoperability, failure to meet the standards of health information data and inadequate well-trained clinician staff with good knowledge of informatics that will oversee the implementation of EHR/EMR system (Ajami & Arab-Chadegani, 2014) Health Care Organization Management Essay.
The hospital is also facing a challenge of shortage in trusted and reliable EHR/EMR system vendors since the one who is available in the market are more of transience vendors. The HCO is also facing challenges in billing errors arising from the software malfunction, system failures, obsolesce of the software, computer crash, anomalies in data capture, vendors going out of business, issues dealing with automation, programming errors and invalidation of the patient data (Ajami & Arab-Chadegani, 2014) Health Care Organization Management Essay. Even if Houston decides to go out of its way to implement these EHR/EMR system, it will still face the challenge of financing the EHR/EMR system which requires huge capital investment, standardization, difficult to use and disruption of workflow.
- The Key Steps In The Closing Process That Provide The Most Opportunity To Make Mistakes In Processing Account Transactions.
The key steps in the closing process that provide the most opportunity to make mistakes in processing account transactions are the process of closing all income accounts to Income Summary and the process of closing all expense accounts to Income Summary. These two steps are more confusing because closing income accounts involve debiting each revenue account with the relevant credit balance in that account (Finkler & Ward, 2014). Equally, when closing the expense accounts, the account is credited with the respect debit balance in each account. This means that the correct revenue and expense records must be an available failure to which the calculation will give wrong results.
Recommendations for Improving the Accuracy and Reliability of the Information in the Gaps That You Have Identified
To avoid the challenges mentioned above, it is recommended that all the closing journal entries of both revenue and expenses be made at year-end during the preparation of temporary accounts that will be used in the following accounting period (Finkler & Ward, 2014). Health Care Organization Management Essay The second recommendation is to measure the temporary/ nominal accounts which will serve as the income statement accounts on a periodic basis to avoid errors of commissions and omission
- The Costing Method Used To Record Inventory by Your Selected Company.
Houston Methodist Hospital uses LIFO method to record its inventory (Houston Methodist Hospital, 2017).
Advantages of LIFO Method of Recording Inventory
LIFO leads better matching of inventory costs and the hospital’s revenues as compared to other methods. It also minimizes market write-downs and improves cash flows and tax benefits (Finkler & Ward, 2014).
Disadvantages of LIFO Method of Recording Inventory
LIFO method of inventory costing will reduce the earnings of an HCO during times of inflation, it understates the inventory and may lead to the liquidation of an entity. It helps the HCO report its cost of inventory grossly and also permits manipulation of incomes, thus allowing the determination of margins effectively (Finkler & Ward, 2014) Health Care Organization Management Essay.
References.
Ajami S. and Razieh Arab-Chadegani (2013). Barriers to implementing Electronic Health
Records (EHRs). 2013; 25(3): 213–215. doi: 10.5455/msm.2013.25.213-215. Available at
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3804410/. Accessed on 30/10/2017
Allen A. (2013). Beyond the HIPAA Privacy Rule: Enhancing Privacy, Improving Health
Through Research. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press; 2013. pp. 31–59.
Available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK9579/ Accessed on 30/10/2017
Finkler, S. A., & Ward, D. M. (2014). Cost accounting for healthcare organizations: Concepts
and applications. Gaithersburg, Md: Aspen Publishers. Health Care Organization Management Essay.
GlobalData – Company Reports. (2016). Houston Methodist Hospital – Strategic SWOT Analysis
Review Feb 02, 2016. New York, NY: Alacra Store. Retrieved Oct 30, 2017, from <http://www.alacrastore.com/storecontent/GlobalData-Company-Reports/Houston-Methodist-Hospital-Strategic-SWOT-Analysis-Review-2087-52917> Accessed on 30/10/2017
Houston Methodist Hospital (2017). Available at http://www.houstonmethodist.org/. Accessed
on 30/10/2017.
Quality Measure Tools & Resources. Content last reviewed August 2017. Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. Available at
http://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/quality-patient-safety/quality-resources/index.html. Health Care Organization Management Essay