Medical errors and overwork at Memorial Regional Hospital Florida

Administration and Stakeholders

Over the last several years, the number of medical errors that health care facilities have dealing with has been steadily increasing. A good example of this can be seen with a study that was conducted by the Institute of Medicine and National Academies. They found, that the total number of medical errors reported around the country account for 1.5 million cases every year. This added to the total costs of medical expenses by $3.5 billion. ("Medical Errors Injure 1.5 Million People," 2006) Part of the reason why this is taking place, is because many staff members will often feel increasing amounts of pressure and they are exhausted (from working 12 plus hours a day). Evidence of this can be seen with a study that was conducted by the Mayo Clinic. They found that the majority of medical errors were from: residents, nurses, doctors and others staff members being dramatically overworked. As, many are expected to: work at least 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. This can lead to errors in many facilities, as the staff members are not as vigilant about their techniques (during the tail end of these long shifts). Over the course of time, this causes major safety issues at a facility. This is troubling, because it is a sign that a variety of health systems are having challenges adjusting to: their changing patient loads and their operating environment. Once this begins to occur, it can lead to: a of host quality control and safety issues at the facility (which will have an adverse impact upon their operating environment). (Nellis, 2009)

In the case of Memorial Regional Hospital Florida, this can be challenging, as these kinds of errors could lead to a deterioration in the overall quality of care that many patients are receiving. As, the increased work load is a sign that many inefficiencies are: occurring within the facility and that people are not working together. This is problematic, because these kinds of issues could damage the reputation of the hospital. To determine how the Memorial Regional can prevent these possible issues require: examining the different organizational, service delivery and technological factors. Together, these elements will provide the greatest insights as to how the hospital can be able to build upon the foundation of success it has established in the past.

Organizational Factors

In the case of Memorial Regional Hospital Florida, it is obvious that they are affected by the Task Culture structure. This is when management is working in conjunction with the different staff members to achieve the various organizational objectives. There are a number of different principals that this kind of structure will embrace to include: everyone's performance is judged based upon their results and there is an expansive culture (which is focused on creative factors as well as most effectively utilizing the various resources). These different elements are important, because they are showing how the hospital is embracing this basic philosophy.

As a result, the best strategy for recruiting will involve using purposive staffing. This is when you are looking at various individuals that will fit well inside the facility. As, you would want to examine: the specific departments that have staffing issues, the age demographics of the patients / staff members and the overall philosophy that each person embraces surrounding the practice of medicine. These elements are significant, because they will help you to identify potential employees based upon: their beliefs and how they will fit in at the hospital. Once this occurs, it means that you can find those people that will be: most likely to succeed in this environment. (Chrisler, 2009, pp. 181 -- 190)

This will help in the development of the staff, by ensuring that everyone shares the same philosophy as the hospital. Once this occurs, it will allow for the patients to receive the best treatment options. The way that this will help in competency building, is by making certain that everyone can be able to work well together. Where, the different screening procedures will ensure that we are locating those professionals, who will practice a similar approach to medicine and dealing with patients as well as other staff members. This ensures that everyone is always communicating and is watchful of possible mistakes that could occur. Over the course of time, this well help to improve the reputation of the facility and it will allow everyone to receive the highest quality care available.

Technological Factors

Like what was stated previously, using the latest technology will mean that the underlying costs will increase. However, beyond this issue there are other factors that can have an impact on health care costs to include: research / development and implementing new technology into the facility. Research and development will mean that the hospital must have specific staff members, who are always up-to-date on the latest advances in medicine. The problem is that keep up with these changes, will mean that this person will have to do extensive traveling. As, they will be required to go to: health care conferences and trade shows, to understand what solutions would work well for the facility. This can cause the costs of keep up with the changes in the industry to increase, as this will involve creating a management position in the hospital.

Implementing new technology into the facility will result in increased costs. The reason why, is because it will take time to train the different staff members in how the equipment works. This will require that outside consultants are brought in to: ensure that everyone understands how to use it. At the same time, you must encourage everyone to embrace these new procedures (which will require changing the culture in some departments). This will mean that there will be a period of resistance, followed by acceptance. During this time, is when the costs of switching between: the different systems / procedures will cause prices to increase. These issues are problematic, because they are highlighting the constant challenges that Memorial Regional Hospital Florida is facing. As they want to provide the best health care solutions, yet the process of doing so involves using technology (which will increase costs). This can take place through: directly using the equipment in the medical procedure to indirect factors (i.e. training and staff resistance). Over the course of time, this can slowly eat away at the profit margins of the hospital. The real key going forward is maintaining some kind of balance between: quality and affordable costs. The way that this will have an effect on health care services, is that they will become more efficient over the long-term. However, in the short to medium term this will causes efficiency to decline and the underlying costs to increase.

Clearly, the biggest challenge that will be facing Memorial Regional Hospital Florida in the future is: the use of technology, as part of delivering different health care solutions. The reason why this is such an issue, is because the facility is focused on providing the community with: the best services and the lowest costs possible.

Over the last several years, this has become challenging as the use of new technology can increase the costs to various medical procedures exponentially. As a result, administration must maintain some kind of balance when addressing this issue. This means that they want to use the latest technology on those procedures that will provide the greatest benefits to: the facility and the patients. Where, it will improve the overall quality of care that is being provided and allow the hospital to maintain its cost structure. If this kind of an approach can be taken, it will ensure that Memorial Regional Hospital is able to build off its: established traditions and maintain their commitment to delivering the highest quality health care services