Introduction
UnitedHealth Group is a healthcare organization with its head offices in Minnesota (Plourde, 2012). The organization provides healthcare insurance services to over seventy million individuals in the US. The organization aims to enhance medical insight, information resources, and healthcare technology. The organization’s business model is very flexible enabling it to tackle impending needs in the ever-dynamic healthcare sector. The organization acknowledges that the US healthcare system should be efficient. As such, the country spends over 20% of its annual budget on healthcare (Williams, 2011). Despite this, it is worrying to note that up to 46 million individuals are not covered in their health insurance programs. Similarly, millions of Americans are underinsured. The above implies that the country’s healthcare system is in a crisis and that it has failed to provide its people with service as required. With respect to the above challenges, the organization acknowledges that more reforms are required to initiate the much-needed changes in the sector and make it accessible to all citizens. In the article below, a case study about UnitedHealth Group is provided.
How the organization plans to meet American healthcare needs in the next decade
To satisfy the increasing healthcare needs of the Americans within the next ten years, the organization offers a variety of strategies and programs. The above will be achieved by improving the performance, efficiency, and access to healthcare services in the next decade. Through this, the organization aims to empower the citizens by making the relevant healthcare information available to them so that they can come up with their own health care alternatives at cheaper rates.
The readiness of the organization to address issues related to UnitedHealth Group’s network growth
Currently, UnitedHealth Group faces a number of network growth challenges owing to the passage of the Affordable Care Act (Brown, 2010). Insolvency, foreclosure, and increased cost of healthcare have forced the company and other health insurance companies to transfer too much burden on their employees. Health experts warn that in the future the employer-based insurance will decrease significantly implying that if reforms are not implemented in the healthcare system, the organization’s network growth would be at a threat.
Despite the above challenges, UnitedHealth Group anticipates to solve its network growth issues. The organization works hand in hand with the states to expand medical access for the poor. By doing so, the organization hopes to enhance the Medicaid programs. According to the organization’s CEO, the organization aims at attaining strong network growth by engaging in a number ways as stipulated in the Medicaid programs (Olson, 2010). Prospective Medicaid projections are recognized through the centralized and state exchange markets.
UnitedHealth Group strategic plan that addresses related to nurse staffing
In the US, nurses play a crucial role in the delivery of healthcare services. The UnitedHealth Group estimates that there are up to 2.5 million nurses in the United States. The number is expected to significantly increase in the coming years. The profession is expected to generate more than 500, 000 new jobs by the year 2016 (Gene, 2000). In the future, the nurses’ roles are expected to increase and evolve. Besides the expected increase in the number of nurses in America, it is disappointing to note that the country is now experiencing an increase in its aging population. The above implies that unlike before more citizens are living longer with multifaceted and chronic illness. In this regard, UnitedHealth Group is searching for an effective healthcare team to meet the increase in care needs and address the nursing shortage.
To address the above, the organization has come up with a strategic plan pertaining nurse staffing. The organization came up with a Centre for Nursing Advancement in the year 2008 (Gene, 2000). The centre focuses on nurse appointment programs, schooling, training, and counseling. Owing to this, the organization will be able to satisfy and sustain the developing needs of health care consumers with ease. Through the program, the organization’s nurses will join a group of physicians mandated to guide and support the blueprint of a new care delivery replicas meant to address the issues undermining the nursing profession and fundamental to attaining health care reforms.
UnitedHealth Group strategic plan tackling issues related to resource management
UnitedHealth Group is dedicated to complying with the advance standards with respect to resource management. To meet the above standards, the organization has put in place the best resource management team (Gene, 2000). The team is made up of qualified and competitive professionals with sound corporate governance attributes. The attributes are vital in ensuring that the organization operates with honesty and distinction in all aspects of its actions. Equally, the above team is important to maintaining the confidence and admiration of shareholders, employees, and healthcare customers. With an appropriate resource management team, the organization has reduced issues related with resource management.
UnitedHealth Group strategic plan tackling concerns related to patient satisfaction
In the past, UnitedHealth Group had a system that offered limited and out-of-date customer feedback services (Gene, 2000). However, with the intention of meeting the customers’ satisfaction UnitedHealth Group has collaborated with West Interactive Insight Customer Intelligence. Through the joint program, the organization would be able to enhance customer satisfaction outcomes, enhance agent performance, attain real-time access clients’ data, and reveal neutral consumer insights of their domestic practices and actions. After the program was initiated, West Interactive and the organization started to reform the customer care sites with the aim of meeting customer satisfaction. When clients call the organization, they are queried by the IVR system instead of the customer care attendant to take part in the survey. Through this, the survey has been successful because customer care attendants are prevented from prejudicing the survey.
In future, the program is expected to lead to an increase in the overall customer satisfaction scores. The data from the survey will enable the organization to improve agent coaching, recognize overall service challenges and come up with drivers of displeasure. From the time when it was initiated, the plan has enabled the organization to augment their customer satisfaction scores. The plan has not only enabled the organization to meet the customers’ needs, but has also facilitated them to come up with an innovative reimbursement plan for their staff.
Conclusion
To achieve the above strategic plans’ objectives, the organization offers groundbreaking and reasonably priced alternatives in the health strategies, aims to renovate how healthcare services are offered by coming up with appropriate tools and programs, and focuses on excellence of service and ease of management. Similarly, the organization informs and engages healthcare staff with relevant information with respect to how to come up with better healthcare alternatives.
References
Brown, D. (2010). Law, explanation and analysis of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: including Reconciliation Act impact. Chicago, IL: Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.
Gene, W. (2000). UnitedHealth Group state health rankings: an analysis of the relative healthiness of the populations in all 50 states. Minneapolis, UnitedHealth Group.
Olson, L. K. (2010). The politics of Medicaid. New York: Columbia University Press.
Plourde, R. (2012). The UnitedHealth Group. Games for health journal, 1(1), 18-20.
Williams, R. A. (2011). Healthcare disparities at the crossroads with healthcare reform. New York: Springer.