Establishing a hospital diabetes task force to improve patient care

¶ … Diabetes is one of the most critical health crises of our time. The incidence of diabetes continues to increase, and this disease has significant negative health outcomes. However, there are things that can be done within the clinical setting order to better manage diabetes, and that is what will be recommended in this report. The report recommends that a special diabetes task force is set up within the hospital, as a means of not only finding better solutions to this health problem, but also to manage the health of patients with this disease in a more effective manner, one that will help attract new business to the hospital.

Method of Obtaining Approval

Obtaining approval for a new unit is a complex endeavor, because there are multiple stakeholders. This tactic will be expensive, and require a substantial amount of new resources. As such, approval will need to be gained in a multiple-step process, with signoffs coming from the CEO, other key executives, the Board, and the financial backers of the facility, all of whom will be asked to contribute specific resources to the task force project.

A business plan will need to be prepared. This will need to be highly detailed, and outline the specific medical and business cases for the new task force, and how the task force will add value to the hospital . The business plan will need to in particular explain how the funding will work and what the revenue expectations are. In addition to this, a number of formal approvals will need to be gained, by several different executives. Ultimately, this process will take anywhere from six months to two years to complete, depending on what sort of delays might arise with respect to getting the necessary paperwork, funding or personnel.

Gaining approval from fellow staff members is also something of a challenge. In this instance, there will be a redeployment of resources within the organization, which would be seen as negative, but also there will be opportunities with the new task force, which is a positive. What this means is that we will need to take the time to educate the staff, build their approvals, and get a sense of buy-in. This needs to be sold as something that will make the organization better and help to secure the organization's long-run future, which will be to the benefit of all stakeholders. There is no reason that support from the employees cannot be gained, but it will be necessary to get this buy-in early in the process.

Description of Current Problem

Although many patients are diagnosed with diabetes at our facility every year, there is comprehensive way within our system to manage diabetes. It presents as a wide range of different health issues, which means that no matter where a person enters the system, that person could end up with a diabetes diagnosis. The high rate of morbidity with respect to diabetes means that there is a market opportunity that we are not currently taking advantage of, but more than that it also means that because we lack a dedicated team for treating diabetes, patient outcomes with respect to this disease are suboptimal. We can improve the quality of life for our patients, our own health outcome scores and our market share within the region all by dedicated specific funding and personnel resources to a special diabetes task force, operating within an existing unit.

From a financial point-of-view, there are many payers who have expressed disappointment with respect to the availably of diabetes treatment at our facility. While we are generally considered to be atop provider, this is a weakness that has been used to draw w large payers such as insurance companies away from our facility. To continue to compete effectively, it will be beneficial for this facility to provide the best standard of treatment for patients who are diagnoses with or who are suspected of having diabetes.

Diabetes is a complex ailment that affects people in a number of different ways. This complexity means that the best way for managing diabetes is multifaceted, and involves understanding the different social and psychological factors, as well as the physical ones, that play a role in both the development and the treatment of the disease. For example, it is common when somebody is first diagnosed with diabetes to be given information about what they can eat when they eat out at chain restaurants. This is important because it recognizes that culture and habit can play a role in the treatment -- it takes time to break habits that have built up over the course of a lifetime. Nobody thinks that it is good for Type 2 diabetes patients to eat fast food, but the reality is that they probably will for a while until the habit can be broken, so the strategy is thus to mitigate the damage that the person might be doing to him/herself.

Rationale for Proposed Solution

The proposed solution fills a gap where we are losing business to our competitors, but also the solution helps the facility to deliver better service to those who are suffering from diabetes. This ailment is common, and it affects a large amount of the people who are within our patient base. As such, it is a good idea to address the needs of those patients by establishing a high level of care. Economically, there is opportunity here. The project is expected to pay for itself, and turn a healthy return on investment. For the Board of Directors, the numbers should be clear that this project is one that is desirable for the organization.

For the patients, there is also a strong case to be made, because patients also benefit from superior medical service. Where there is a team that is dedicated to the needs of the patients, that team will be capable of delivering differentiated service. Thus, from both a medical view and an economic view, this approach will allow us to be better than we have been in the past.

Evidence

There is ample evidence to suggest that putting more effort into a specific area will allow us to be better in that area. Indeed, this is common knowledge. When the organization puts more resources into treating diabetes, and improving our ability to treat diabetes, that in turn creates a situation where the organization has a better chance to improve patient outcomes. Diabetes is a significant problem, but many facilities in the U.S. are doing a great job with its treatment, and this is the path that our organization wishes to follow.

Conclusion

Diabetes is a serious problem and our organization is positioned well to implement a task force to help find ways to treat diabetes patients better. With the right plan in place, we can improve morbidity rates, extend lives and improve the quality of life for those who are suffering diabetes, in particular the Type 2 diabetes epidemic. This plan illustrates how we will build a business plan, gain approvals from the different stakeholders, and how this will be implemented throughout the organization.