Background information
Veterans Affairs Healthcare is considered to be an operating system uniting about 153 medical centers, 207 Veteran Centers, and 882 community-based outpatient and ambulatory clinics. The system unites about 92 comprehensive programs of home-based care, aimed at medical services provided to eligible veterans. The principal facilities of the system cover inpatient hospital care, laboratory services, mental health counseling, pharmaceutical dispensing, custodial care and rehabilitation for various disabilities. The facilities of VA Healthcare system have more than 200 000 full-time-equivalent employees, covering 55000 nurses and 13000 professional physicians.
The VA Loma Linda Healthcare system is included into the American medical service system; the operating system is the part of Desert Pacific Healthcare Network. The principal community clinics are situated in Palm Desert, Corona, Sun City, Rancho Cucamonga, and Victorville.
The central mission of the organization is considered to be aimed at providing efficient medical service to the veterans; the fulfillment of the mission is achieved through the development of various outpatient, inpatient and home care programs. The system operates regular enrollment programs helping to manage the health care provision via providing beneficiaries to the overall population. The goals are concentrated on giving necessary care to the veterans who are eligible; and the control of the given care quality. (The Healthcare System for Veterans: an Interim Report. 2007)
Industry Background
The VA Loma Linda Healthcare System consists of Memorial VA Medical Center of Jerry L. Pettis and five basic community clinics; the medical center was opened in 1977 having the name of famous Congressman Pettis who used to work diligently locating the Loma Linda facilities. Gradual development of medical service centers and organizations has been observed at the end of 20th century. According to VA’s estimates, there were more than 24 million of US military veterans in 2006, the significant part of whom required medical service; that period appeared to be of special importance for the medical organizational system, which managed to provide help to more than 5 million of those people and about 400 000 of other patients. It is necessary to stress that about 2.9 million veterans were additionally enrolled into the system; through they failed to get the necessary help and medical support.
In accordance with Veterans Health Care Eligibility Reform Act provisions of 1999, the VA enrollment system started to call for veterans desiring service of being assigned to priority groups; the veterans who were disabled managed to get the highest care portion, through their being in priority group. Present situation remained similar; the VA department introduced the division into priority groups in accordance with the level of patients’ medical care demand. (Mettler, 2002)
Situational Analysis
Strengths of the VA Loma Linda Healthcare system are merely demonstrated through highly trained clinicians and physicians giving an opportunity to VA addressing many specialties. The system provides assistance to the patients with prescription medication; besides, the provided health care is considered to be portable. The veterans can receive the necessary help at home facility, and the closest VA facility in case of travelling. The basic strengths of the VA healthcare system are focused on providing high-quality and low cost health care, giving an opportunity for the patients to admire the benefits of the service. The eligibility determination provides strong benefits to the patients; such as compensation, pension, and immediate health care.
Weaknesses of the VA medical system are concentrated on the insufficient development of IT technologies into the sphere; the system is predominantly paper-based preventing the providers from patients’ care coordinating with other specialists for the purpose of information sharing, compliance monitoring aimed at disease-management program assistance. The internal weaknesses are also expressed through medical liability; legal redress is to be available for the mistakes made in the medical practice; besides, frivolous liability claims driving the health care providers beyond their profession and driving up prices. (Pub, 2002)
Opportunities. Strategic alliances are considered to be effective strategies for adapting and responding to environmental changing; the basic opportunities of VA healthcare system are concentrated on the goals of basic reorganization efforts. The reengineering of the Administration will give a chance to improve the care given to the veterans; the technological development, reporting and performance measurement can contribute to service integration and realigned payment policies improvement aimed at becoming the effective and professional health system member of the World Institute of Medicine. The organizations have a chance to take the leading position on the international level through cooperation and experience sharing of its dominant practices and developed computer-based medical service management in the near future. (VA and Defense health care evolving health care systems require rethinking of resource sharing strategies. 2006)
Threats. It is a well known fact that the system of VA Healthcare is one of the cost effective in the Medical Institute of the USA; the unstable economical position in the world can impact the financial policies of the service, which was initially aimed at veterans having no strong financial support. The challenges in the financial aspect of the organizations can lead to the total restructuring of the system which can impact the weakening of its leading position on the state level.
Market Research
The marketing research on VA Healthcare system is to be conducted for realization of the following issues: the analysis of organizational restructuring within the VA healthcare system, being aimed at sharing the decision-making authority between key personnel of medical facilities, regional managers and central office officials; health information technology investigation and its extensive use by the organization; the analysis of performance measurement being targeted to the healthcare quality improvement.
The research will be predominantly based on the combination of primary and secondary sources; this will help to conduct evaluation of the medical service provided by the VA organization reports and statistical analysis. The usage of secondary resources through marketing analysis and service quality evaluation by the Medical Institute will help to determine the real strengths and weaknesses of the system. The combination of sources will help to contribute to comparative analysis of healthcare institutions and healthcare given to veterans and other patients. (Maricic, 2004)
Marketing Objectives
The key objectives of the marketing research are aimed at achievement of the following objectives: the determination of the principle technological tools to be introduced within the system – health IT system covering treatments reminders and tests in accordance with clinical guidelines and various incentives given to providers and managers of the organization for the purpose of meeting care quality targets and clinical guidelines adherence.
The achievement of the technological tools analysis within The VA Loma Linda Healthcare system is to be achieved through the examination of qualitative web databases; the analysis of other medical systems and their experience on the network level will give an opportunity to formulate the necessary aspects, methods and management strategies to be developed for the goals achievement.
Marketing Strategies
The research paper is to be concentrated on the marketing strategies evaluation on the basis of the VA Loma Linda Healthcare system management reports; the analysis of the medical sources is to be concentrated on the examination of related articles developed by specialized institutions.
It is important to evaluate the effectiveness of technological involvement in the system of medical service; the evaluation of data sharing between physicians and clinicians is to be presented on the basis of internet communication and web service introduction. It is also important to analyze the cost-effectiveness of the medical system and evaluate its financial policies position, for the purpose of preventing the impact of world economic instability and market fluctuations. The illustration of the VA Loma Linda Healthcare system in the system of American medical service is to be showed through graphs and charts vividly underlining all the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. Complications faced in the organization practice are to be presented through the analysis of its achievements and mistakes on the basis of medical proficiency examination.
References
Graduate medical education directory. (2003). American Medical Association.
Maricic, M. (2004). Bone disease in rheumatology. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Mettler, M. (2002). Healthwise for life: medical self-care for you. Healthwise.
The Healthcare System for Veterans: an Interim Report. (2007). Congress of the United States. Web.
Pub, B. (2002). Official national hospital blue book. University of Michigan.
VA and Defense health care evolving health care systems require rethinking of resource sharing strategies : report to congressional requesters. (2006). DIANE Publishing.