Health care strategic management

Health Care Strategic Management

There may be many reasons for change, but there is a demand now in United States that the changes in healthcare market take place now to remove the present inconsistency in quality and efficiency. The main reasons driving the reasons for change have been seen to be patient safety and quality, the move towards digitalization, demographic changes, workforce issue, financial issues, and the search for excellence. There have been many reports about quality and patient safety since the report by the Institute of Medicine's Report was released in 1999 about medical errors, and the situation has only got worse and not improved. The recent reports state that over 200,000 persons die every year due to medical errors as the principal reason. The second main reason for change is that all records being kept in the hospitals are shifting to a record without films and paper. This change to be successful has to be accompanied by changes in the system. The third major shift is taking place due to the changing pattern of people residing in areas. This is accompanied in general by an aging population. Along with this the workers in healthcare are also aging and now only 9.1% of all nurses are below the age of 30 and the average age has reached 45. (Overcoming the Barriers to Change in Healthcare System)

This changing pattern will require the shifting of healthcare facilities, irrespective of whether they are for commercial reasons or orders by the government. Ultimately every change has to be made for events that will make the change a commercial success. The next point is that there are now increasing shortages in workforce in many areas and this is focused in many regions and specialties. There are severe shortages of registered nurses, radiology technicians and other experts. These cut down severely on the abilities of the service providers to provide adequate care. Another important reason for change is the financial difficulties that the service providers face and this is due to the increase in demand and delays in collections of revenue and reimbursement. This is an area where the government can help the healthcare managers in. (Overcoming the Barriers to Change in Healthcare System) The last important reason for change is the search for excellence, and this is certainly required by any field which desires to be of service to people. (Managing Healthcare in a Changing European Environment) Naturally all the above lead to changes and all changes are difficult to implement as changes are against the feeling of comfort that is inherently liked by humans.