In healthcare, project management may be defined as an organizational process designed for the improvement of medical facilities’ functioning. It aims to facilitate current operations at resolving problems related to them, implement policies or regulations that may enhance health care delivery, and establish positive relationships between stakeholders (Gordon & Pollack, 2018). Thus, efficient project management may improve productivity, allocation of resources, and communication, especially between healthcare professionals and patients.
The project management process has several stages that may be observed using the example of a physician’s office that plans to implement electronic health records (EHR) in its practice. Thus, the first stage implies initiation when the specialist responsible for this implementation determines its extent and purpose, estimates costs, predict financial resources and evaluate potential barriers along with solutions. During the second stage, planning, professionals responsible for the projects are assigned to control the completion of every task. In addition, on the basis of required equipment (hardware and software) and time, the budget is finalized. The stage of execution presupposes monitoring the project’s progress and managing objectives in the case of unexpected challenges. Finally, the stage of conclusion, the completion of the project is evaluated with the recording of results for future endeavors.
Healthcare Errors
The concept of fair and just culture presupposes a workplace environment built on the principles of transparency and trust. It empowers healthcare providers to feel safe and supported when raising concerns. Within the framework of fair and just culture, workers are free not only to fulfill their potential but admit concern, weakness, inability, and mistakes as well. In general, fair and just culture that promotes communication minimizes the risk of occurrence of particular errors caused by an individual’s motives or behaviors.
Medication errors, such as improper dosing and incorrect drug dispensing or prescription, may be regarded as a classic example of errors on the basis of human behavior. They belong to human errors and involve unpredictable and unintentional behavior that could have caused or causes undesirable outcomes (Rogers et al., 2017). At the same time, a considerable number of healthcare specialists are afraid “to report errors for fear of retribution including the loss of professional licensure and even imprisonment” (Rogers et al., 2017, p. 308). In this case, it is highly essential to promote the principles of fair and just culture to prevent errors and improve relationships between healthcare providers in medical facilities. Thus, leaders should understand and classify behavioral patterns that lead to these errors, instill values for healthcare staff, set realistic expectations, and encourage accountability and openness within the workplace.
Healthcare Accreditation Risks
For a hospital, the process of accreditation may be regarded as highly essential as it presupposes increased community confidence, improved healthcare delivery, better operational efficiency, and reduced liability insurance. However, during the process of accreditation, a facility may face several serious risks that could be divided into staff-related and patient-related ones. Staff-related risks imply limited or absent skills and knowledge of hospital clinicians, a lack of top management commitment within the framework of stringent accreditation standards (Kuwaiti & Muhanna, 2019). In turn, patient-related risks are connected with the decreased quality of healthcare delivery during the process of accreditation (Alshamsi et al., 2020). This situation is connected with workers’ burnout due to perceived time pressure, expanded working hours, and conflicting information.
For pre-survey, it is recommended for a hospital to assess its strong and weak sides that require improvement before the process of accreditation. During the survey, it should stay organized having the right leadership. At the same time, it is essential to keep workers aware of their safety. For a post-survey stage, it will be necessary to implement changes in a hospital’s organizational culture across all levels to demonstrate the significance of the process.
References
Alshamsi, A. I., Thomson, L., & Santos, A. (2020). What impact does accreditation have on workplaces? A qualitative study to explore the perceptions of healthcare professionals about the process of accreditation. Frontiers in Psychology, 11(1614), 1-13. Web.
Gordon, A., & Pollack, J. (2018). Managing healthcare integration: Adapting project management to the needs of organizational change. Project Management Journal, 49(5), 5-21.
Kuwaiti, A., & Muhanna, F. A. (2019). Challenges facing healthcare leadership in attaining accreditation of teaching hospitals. Leadership in Health Services, 32(2), 170-181. Web.
Rogers, E., Griffin, E., Carnie, W., Melucci, J., & Weber, R. J. (2017). A just culture approach to managing medication errors. Hospital Pharmacy, 52(4), 308-315. Web.