Introduction
McLaren Health Care is a network of healthcare facilities that provides the citizens of Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsular with high-quality medical service (“Company overview of McLaren Health Care Corporation,” 2017). It was created in 1981 and is located in Flint, Michigan. The company states its mission as follows: “McLaren Health Care, through its subsidiaries, will be the best value in health care as defined by quality outcomes and cost” (“Mission, vision and guiding principles,” n.d., para. 2). Their vision is that McLaren Northern Michigan “will be the recognized leader and preferred provider of health care services” to the communities it serves (“Mission, vision and guiding principles,” n.d., para. 3). The guiding principle of the company is to provide healthcare as one would expect for his or her own family. Finally, the values of McLaren Health Care include safety, excellence, respect, value, and enthusiasm (“Mission, vision and guiding principles,” n.d.). The philosophy of the company is the Clinical Practice Model. One of its objectives is the establishment of a healing environment inside and outside healthcare facilities.
McLaren Health Care Facilities and Services
McLaren Health Care system comprises about three hundred facilities. There are a dozen local hospitals and a contemporary network of centers that deal with cancer, dialysis, imaging, and surgery all over Michigan (“McLaren Health Care Corporation. Company information,” 2017). All McLaren facilities count up to 2,900 beds where patients from more than 50 counties can receive healthcare services. McLaren has some subsidiaries which help the company manage diverse spheres such as “a primary care physician network, commercial and Medicaid HMOs, and assisted living facilities” (“McLaren Health Care Corporation. Company information,” 2017, para. 1). The services provided by McLaren are varied and meet the needs of the population. Moreover, this network suggests visiting nurse or home health care and hospice services. Also, patients can find cardiology, diabetes, emergency, orthopedic, pulmonary, surgery, vascular, and other services. It has the Great Lakes Cancer Institute which researches cancer and its treatment in partnership with Michigan State University (“McLaren Health Care Corporation,” 2017).
Readiness to Address Health Care Needs
McLaren Health Care is a participant of a Community Health Needs Assessment which is conducted in ten counties in northern Michigan. Such an assessment is necessary to see the condition of healthcare in the region and analyze the health needs of the population. The assessment which was completed in December 2015 with the participation of McLaren Health Care involved over 1,220 community residents and 80 physicians and health care providers to complete the health care survey (McLaren Health Care, 2016). As a result of the survey, 120 health indicators were defined. They included “causes of death, disease rates, health risk behaviors, access to health care” (McLaren Health Care, 2016, p. 3). These health indicators can be used for the development of healthcare strategies aimed at the promotion of individual and community wellness.
In addition to research, McLaren Health Care uses contemporary equipment. It helps to reduce the waiting time for patients and increase the quality of the diagnosing process. McLaren Health Care is an active user of the Electronic Health Record. This software increases patient safety because there is only one book. Moreover, the electronic hospital health record positively influences patient’s privacy and protects health information. Finally, it improves the quality of care due to improved patient interaction.
Strategic Plan
A strategic plan for the improvement of community health presented by McLaren supports the vision of “Healthy people in healthy communities” (McLaren Health Care, 2016, p. 1). Based on the Community Health Needs Assessment results, McLaren Health Care developed an implementation strategic plan. It considers the identified priority aspects of health care in the area. Three primary focus areas needed more attention. These strategic priorities included health care access (comprising maternal, child, and behavioral health); chronic disease prevention; and substance use prevention and treatment (including tobacco) (McLaren Health Care, 2016, p. 6).
Previously, some actions were taken to improve access to primary care, behavioral health, maternal health, and coordinated education programs and services focused on reducing chronic diseases. However, there is still much work to do to improve the situation. McLaren has long-lasting and reliable relations with partners and thus will continue implementing strategies to refine health care services and stimulate positive changes in the area they serve.
McLaren Health Care constantly formulates goals, objectives, and strategies that help the company provide the service of high quality and consider the needs of patients in particular and community on the whole. For example, access to health care can be increased through the increase in the number of people with health insurance. Strategies to achieve this goal include partnerships with hospitals, health departments, health units, an increase in the number of care providers. The goal to promote health and shorten the incidence of chronic disease, according to McLaren objectives, can be achieved through healthy diets and healthy lifestyles. An important component of it is also the maintenance of normal body weight. To reduce and prevent substance use and smoking, McLaren plans to educate primary care providers so that they could identify a problem of abuse. Another strategy is participation in prescription disposal programs, and cooperation with regional and local partners to increase awareness of the population about the bad influence of alcohol or tobacco (McLaren Health Care, 2016, p. 7).
Conclusions
Generally speaking, health care providers have leading roles in the life of the whole community. Health care providers have resources to detect the needs of a community, analyze them, develop a plan, and organize its implementation. McLaren in Northern Michigan is considered to be a leading health care provider. It conducts research, provides examination and treatment of patients with diverse diseases, and suggests many additional services that are useful for any community. The major aim of McLaren Health Care is not making money, but the improvement of the community health and decrease of dangerous habits.
This health care facility proves to be ready for addressing the health needs of people. It has many services and facilities which interact and make a consistent health care provider. Moreover, McLaren has a strategic plan for the following years which is based on the assessment of the community needs. Nevertheless, this study is not complete. Further research can be dedicated to a comparative study of health care providers in different states, including disease prevalence and consideration of community needs for their life. Apart from the community needs in every particular period, it can be useful to assess the availability and affordability of healthcare services. These aspects can be included in the implementation plan and used to improve the quality of service.
References
Company overview of McLaren Health Care Corporation. (2017). Web.
McLaren Health Care Corporation. Company information. (2017). Web.
McLaren Health Care. (2016). Community health assessment and improvement plan. At a glance.
Mission, vision and guiding principles. (n.d.). Web.