Case Study Analysis

Introduction

The selected case study details the challenges that rural hospitals faced during the 2020 Covid19 pandemic. The case focuses on two hospitals under the larger Oregon Health Services serving the rural town of Oregon that is located 80 miles from Salem in Oregon State. Upon confirmation of the Covid19 outbreak in Oregon in April 2020, the hospitals initiated an emergency disaster plan in anticipation of surging patient numbers. They, however, experienced several problems managing the effects of the pandemic, including lack of equipment and personal protective equipment (PPEs), staffing limitations, and poor cultural awareness. This analysis proposes the adoption of the all-payer global budget financing model for rural hospitals and implementation of cultural training programs for staff to address these challenges.

Background

Oregon Health Services is a general term for a large healthcare system that serves three counties in Oregon State. Immediately the positive covid19 cases were confirmed, the health services launched a massive testing campaign targeting residents with suspected symptoms, including chest pain, fever, breathing difficulties, fatigue, and persistent cough, among others. As part of the campaign, the hospitals offered free drive-through testing upon production of a clinicians order. However, the effectiveness of the campaign was limited by insufficient supply of PPEs and equipment, including test kits, M4 viral transport media, and nasopharyngeal swabs. Further, the hospitals lacked the equipment to carry out the testing themselves at first and were forced to transport collected samples to urban centres, incurring additional transport costs.

Hispanics and indigenous Guatemalans accounted for the largest percentage of positive Covid19 cases. The health system attributed this to cultures that encouraged congregate housing, carpooling and walking together in groups, all of which were common among Hispanics and Guatemalans and made it difficult to keep social distancing requirements. Unfortunately, the hospital staff lacked cultural awareness to effectively educate the population on the same. Cultural awareness entails being sensitive to the differences and similarities between cultures and being able apply this sensitivity when communicating with members of different cultures (Jongen et al., 2018). Cultural awareness makes it easier for healthcare staff to effectively handle and relate better with patients from different cultures because it helps them love and appreciate others who hold different beliefs and perspectives from them (Jonen et al., 2018).

Finally, the hospitals were not adequately staffed to cater for the high demand for services. For instance, hospital managers were forced...…rural hospitals (Fried et al., 2020). In their view, the current transactional nature of the healthcare system that equates volume to revenue contributes to the financial struggles of healthcare providers (Fried et al., 2020). An all-payer global budget administered through SORHs would ensure that rural hospitals have higher and more predictable income streams that they could use to source for equipment and supplies, as well as maintaining adequate staffing levels.

On the concern of cultural insensitivity, cultural education and training serves as the most plausible strategy. Jongen et al (2018) found employee training to be more effective than other strategies in increasing cultural awareness among healthcare staff. Their study concludes that the effect of interventions beyond practitioner knowledge and attitudes is unclear (Jongen et al., 2018, p. 1). They recommend that cultural training programs are complemented with professional development interventions such as supervision and mentoring to increase their effectiveness (Jongen et al., 2018).

Recommendations

In summary, the case brings to light the challenges facing healthcare organizations in rural areas. The identified problems include inadequacies in equipment and supplies, staffing limitations, and lack of cultural awareness. To address these challenges, this text recommends:

i) cultural education and training for healthcare staff

ii) Adoption of the all-payer global budget financing…