United Healthcare Group is a for-profit managed organization with headquarters located in Minnesota. It offers insurance services and health care products to individuals, small and medium businesses, and international companies. It is one of the largest health care companies in the United States, which provides a wide range of services to its clients. The following paper focuses on the readiness of this organization in meeting the requirements and needs of the patients in the next decade, as well as its strategic plan related to such issues as nurse staffing, network growth, patient satisfaction, and resource management. The comparison with the Singapore Airlines strategy will also be provided.
Readiness to Meet the Patients’ Requirements in the Next Decade
The organization offers a large number of programs to assist in promoting a healthy life among the population of the United States and improving access to health care through eliminating social status disparities and providing competent information for health care program selection. Its latest reforms assure equal and qualitative coverage of the citizens in all the states. The main goals of the company are to achieve better patient’s satisfaction by implementing patient-centered values and improving productivity and quality of medical services. It is stated that “successful implementation of new methods and models of healthcare to achieve better patient outcomes and safe person-centered care is dependent on the physical environment of the healthcare facility in which the healthcare is provided” (Elf, Fröst, Lindahl, & Wijk, 2015, p. 114). Therefore, such changes as securing common administrative standards, utilizing modern technological achievements, evidence-based medicine approaches, and better management of health care by adapting to various cultures are performed to allow the company to stay one of the leading health care providers.
In the next decade, the company will also focus on providing help to patients with chronic diseases by offering programs to prevent the development of these conditions. The effectiveness of the treatment will be a base for purchasing a health care package. All the transactions will be electronic and based on the financial history of a patient. Public health plans will be modernized to provide cost-effective, long-term, and better care for the consumers. It is possible to say that United Healthcare Group has prepared a full range of services according to the needs of the patients in the changing environment of the modern world. This organization is ready to provide better access to health care and make it affordable to people with lower social status. It also provides online and mobile consultations with physicians in order to improve health care access in rural areas. The prevention of diseases is achieved by education and informing patients about the initial symptoms and first aid. The organization is oriented to reaching a better quality of life by its patients and preventing negative outcomes.
Strategic Plan of the Organization
The strategic plan of United Healthcare Group includes such aspects as launching various value-based contracting strategies for businesses to improve quality and reduce negative patient outcomes and medical errors, as well as share responsibility and risk in controlling trends in health care costs. It is emphasized that “United Healthcare considers Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) to be an important element of its value-based contracting strategy” (“Value-Based contracting and accountable care organizations: UnitedHealth network strategies,” 2018, para 2).
The strategies of the organizations include performance-based contracting giving opportunities for reaching specific quality metrics and patient-centered medical homes facilitating communication between patients and physicians to ensure that a patient gets the care one needs in a timely manner regardless of one’s location. The organization also practices episodic and bundled payments, which means that hospitals receive payment for medical services in case of a single episode of health care over an indicated time period. The company takes accountability in the cases of care of the population with disadvantaged social status and provides a risk-based compensation. It has developed a network for the patients to select health care providers and physicians.
The organization has a center for nursing advancement to improve leadership and educational skills of nursing professionals to meet the requirements of the patients in the coming decade. It is noted that “understanding what workforce changes are occurring and how they are being managed is key not just for healthcare leaders but for policymakers as well” (Pittman & Scully-Russ, 2016, p. 56). United Healthcare Group follows the popular strategy of health care organizations and provides moving nursing staff at home care and ambulatory settings, coordinates care and outreach to patients with severe conditions, as well as adopts new skills and roles to the requirements of the advanced information technologies used in the health care system at present.
The resource management of the organization is oriented to providing better health care quality to the population of the United States. Its transplant network system assists in applying relevant evidence-based data to reduce costs and improve patient care. The customers state that having donor transplantation through this company is convenient and easy. United Healthcare Group has also launched two programs to help Americans from rural districts in managing such chronic illnesses as heart disease and diabetes by timely access to health care. The diabetic health plans provided by the organization helps its clients to save money and receive qualified medical care.
Comparison with Singapore Airlines
The comparison of United Healthcare Group and Singapore Airlines led to the detection of some similarities in the strategies selected by the organizations. It is possible to say that both companies utilize a client-oriented approach in providing services. They are both oriented to quality improvement and cost-effective programs that might increase customer’s satisfaction and secure better competitive position in the market. Both organizations select younger generation of professionals to improve and enhance their skills. The innovative approaches to applying information technologies are used by both companies to increase revenue and customer’s convenience.
It is a general opinion that Asian culture is characterized by the emphasis on customer service and satisfaction. It is believed that this approach is very effective in attracting new clients and now is implemented worldwide. Moreover, in the United States where mixed cultures were traditionally a challenge for businesses and health care providers this client-oriented approach gains new vision. It is generally recognized that health care professionals should pay attention to cultural differences of their patients and try to adapt to their specific needs.
Conclusion
The given paper discussed the health care strategies and plans of United Healthcare Group which is regarded to be one of the leading medical organizations in the United States. The discussion was focused on the readiness of this organization in meeting the requirements and needs of the patients in the next decade, as well as its strategic plan related to such issues as nurse staffing, network growth, patient satisfaction, and resource management. The comparison with the Singapore Airlines strategy was also provided.
References
Elf, M., Fröst, P., Lindahl, G., & Wijk, H. (2015). Shared decision making in designing new healthcare environments—time to begin improving quality. BMC Health Services Research, 15(1), 114.
Pittman, P., & Scully-Russ, E. (2016). Workforce planning and development in times of delivery system transformation. Human Resources for Health, 14(1), 56.
Value-Based contracting and accountable care organizations: UnitedHealth network strategies. (2018). Web.