Overview of the environmental issues important in the case considering competition, technology, community service, funding, and workforce
Orange Health Door Center is a non-profit organization that offers moderate health care on a sliding-fee scale to under-insured people in Minnesota. Judging from the case presented in the study by Filipovitch (2006), the clinic has gradually been transformed from a voluntary-run community clinic to a community clinic. With regard to the occurred changes, the hospital had to undergo certain changes in terms of staff development, managerial approaches, and technologic advances. Specifically, a voluntary-based staff has been transformed to the paid staff, which led to the necessity of introducing specific social packages and salary planning. As a result, the integration of a specific management information system that evolved from a paper recording was also imperative for meeting the occurred changes. Approaches to medical treatment and care of patients also changed because of staff network development. Because a new information management system was created, the introduction of a new system of integrated management of health care was also a necessary condition for the transition process. However, because some of the transition process turned out to be inconsistent, the environmental factors had a potent impact on the hospital organization.
Identifying environmental issues as being relevant and indicating specific examples of the issue that are directly mentioned in the case based on knowledge of the healthcare environment
According to Kovner et al. (2006), considering environmental factors is indispensible as far as the total restructuring and re-organization of the hospital is concerned. Specifically, a nurse leader should be able to foresee all difficulties and critical situation that might occur in the course of the nurses’ adaptation to a new structure and work setting. For instance, while planning specific bonus and social schemes for the nurse, it is important for a nurse leader to consider such aspects as external market, competition, etc. Coordinating external environment to the internal working can be beneficial for creating a more consistent and effective transformation of an organization. Alternatively, inability to comply with existing external trends can lead to complicating and contribute, for example, to reducing nurse retention.
Judging from the above cases, specific emphasis should be placed on the analysis of technological modernization of the hospital with regard to the changes occurred to the managerial system of the hospital.
Providing examples of experience observations
Apart from human resources managements, significant changes should be related to the management system, which primarily influences the quality of patient treatment and quality of healthcare delivery (Hall et al., 2008, p. 417). In this respect, “the integration of performance improvement models and techniques from industry into health care has been accelerated” because nurse professionals should possess background knowledge about social and cultural peculiarities of both patients and nurses (Hall et al., 2008, p. 417).
The transformation occurred in the Orange Health Door Center are closely associated with the analysis of social backgrounds. In this respect, Michielsen et al. (2010) provides an overview of different industrial models where the introduction of Social Health Insurance has come to the worth. Hence, this novelty has also become an important factor that has affected the internal working setting, as well as information managerial system.
Overall, before introducing specific changes to organizational structure, a careful and consistent plan should be proposed first to discuss the existing pros and cons and eliminate inconsistencies in future.
References
Filipovitch, A.J. (2006). Organizational transformation of a community-based clinic. Nonprofit Management & Leadership, 17(1), 103-115.
Hall, L.W., Moore, S.M., & Barnsteiner, J.H. (2008). Quality and nursing: Moving from concept to a core competency. Urologic Nursing, 28(6), 417-425.
Kovner, A., R., McAlearney, A. S., & Neuhauser, D. (2009). Health Services Management: Cases, Readings, and Commentary. US: Health Administration Press.
Michielsen, J. A., Meulemans, H., Soors, W., Ndiaye, P., Devadasan, N., De Herdt, T., &… Criel, B. (2010). Social protection in health: the need for a transformative dimension. Tropical Medicine & International Health. pp. 654-658.