Leadership strategy in clinical audit units for healthcare compliance

Healthcare Leadership in the Clinical Audit Unit

HEALTHCARE LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGY IN THE CLINICAL AUDIT UNIT FOR HEALTHCARE

The objective of this work is to focus on the importance of leadership strategy in a Clinical Audit Unit within the Department of Health and Medical Services. The clinical audit unit responsibility is for all the private healthcare sectors in a given area, and in this case includes more than 1800 facilities (hospitals, healthcare centers, clinics, etc.) The focus of this work is to answer the question: "How do you think a course of leadership and strategy can be important for your current work and future career development?"

The responsibilities of leadership and the strategies the leader must have knowledge of cannot be effectively learned 'impromptu' or experientially. The only sure method of assuring one has sufficient knowledge of leadership strategies and skills is to intentionally become educated in this area. Head of the Clinical Audit Unit, a unit responsible for compliance in healthcare practice standards must necessarily ensure that they are armed with knowledge in leadership in order to effectively lead toward excellence.

I. Transitions in Organizations - How Long Does it Take?

The work of Michael Watkins (2003) entitled: "The First 90 Days - Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at all Levels" states that the 'breakeven point' is the point at which: "...new leaders have contributed as much value to their new organizations as they have consumed from it." In fact, according to Watkins when 210 CEOs and presidents of 210 companies were polled as to how much time they estimated it took for a typical midlevel manager to reach what is termed the 'breakeven point' the answer given was an average of 6.2 months.

II. Planned Change

Planned change must have several critically important elements that provide support for leadership in the initiative of making change within the organization. The first of these elements is "awareness" which speaks of every individual who is involved in the change process either being or becoming aware of the necessity of that change. Secondly, the leadership requires the element of vision that is both "compelling" and that has a "solid strategy" as its base. Furthermore a 'Plan' is required and one that shows the leaders expertise in a plan that is detailed in its formulation. Finally, the leader will require "Support" and that the support is of the nature of a "sufficiently powerful coalition" in order to provide enough support for the plan of change to be implemented. According to the work of Watkins (2003) should any of the foregoing five conditions not be met the planned change might very well fail. For example in the organization that is characterized by a group of individuals who are not convinced whatsoever; or are in "complete denial" that the changes purported by leadership as necessary are valid, then the leader 'must' attempt to "create a compelling vision and strategy" or in the alternative the leader must "...develop a solid cross-functional implementation plan, or create a coalition" that will render support to the changes that must necessarily come about within the organization. Watson labeled this the "collective learning" process that brings the organization to the point of realization necessary to bring about the needed changes under a collective agreement. In order to accomplish this the leader is faced with the large task of bringing about behavior change within the organization which in actuality is a transition in the function of the group in terms of "structure, processes, skills" (Ibid)and "...above all - its situation." (Ibid)

Summary & Conclusion

The fifth and final proposition relates ultimately the reasoning that for any team who having played together before and won a cohesion develops and good plays are developed for specific points in the 'game-plan', if you will, and the outcome is that the team is effective and pushes toward the goals that are set in an environment of collaboration. This yields dynamic and positive outcomes for the team and for the organization in terms of the 'return-on-investment' measure of the organization and those who filled the important role of leadership within that organization. It is just this structure that leadership in the healthcare Clinical Audit Unit that has been the focus of this study requires for success in the complex changes that must be set out, agreed upon, and supported within organizations the focus of audit. These 'Five Propositions' are in a much longer and more detailed work as described herein by Watkins (2003) however, these five principles or propositions alone are well worth the consideration of leadership in the clinical audit unit of any healthcare organization in today's diverse and global society and specifically in the healthcare industry. And since, the audit is healthcare related, that return-on-investment' has great capacity to be realized in much more than what is represented by the bottom line profit in the organizations accounting department. It is the writers opinion that this fact alone is worthy of the development of a cohesive and collaborative team. Leadership that is willing to educate and teach and demonstrate collaboration will have a very good chance at leading a team to repetitive victory for the organization, specifically an organization in need of transition of change.