Home Care Company ABC Home Care Agency

Home Care Company

ABC Home Care Agency Capital Purchase

Software Acquisition and its Benefits

Capital Purchase of Software

Customer Satisfaction

Productivity

Quality assurance

Employee development

Revenue improvement

Economic environment of the organization

Patient care

Medical and allied health education

Community service

Cost containment

Leadership role

Clinical research

The business requires alignment with the mission and objectives in order to attain a higher growth rate. The changing business environment and technological advancements enable the organizations to reduce cost of operations and provide quality services to their clients. The below sections are dedicated to establish a requirement for software acquisition in ABC home healthcare agency. The software is capable to provide advanced features for patient record management. The business can achieve its objectives through utilizing the capabilities of software. Improved service quality, customer satisfaction, and employee development can facilitate overall performance of the organization.

Introduction:

The ABC Home Care Agency is a healthcare services provider agency. The mission of the agency is to provide healthcare service to the patients in their home environment. The agency is operating in various states of United States and following their corporate principles of providing quality healthcare. The yearly growth of agency has not only provided business expansion opportunities but at the same time increase in staff including doctors, nurses, attendants, and administrative staff. The changing business and regulatory requirements need modernization in operations. Technology is also required to replace existing methods of record keeping and providing healthcare services. Advanced services oriented and patients centered approach is required to achieve higher service levels. The competitors are also adopting highly efficient and computer-based systems to increase market share. The large number of staff members and high growth in patient numbers can only be handled through effective communication and record maintenance. The issue was raised in annual general meeting and as a result the management has asked for report on the proposal.

Software Acquisition and its Benefits:

The manual record keeping and computer-based record maintenance systems have significant differences. There are various process adopted by the organizations to acquire software (Campos, Guerra, & Lancas, 2009). Some of them are described below to develop understanding of the issue. A process adopted by the businesses to assess their requirements and acquire software is denoted as software acquisition process. These needs are identified and assessed at internal levels and various options are discussed to analyze the appropriate option. The software acquisition is completed through various options as explained below.

The software available in the market is denoted as commercial off the shelf software (COTS). It is also noted that COTS software acquisition is handled through the internal staff of organization (Chemuturi, 2013). The first stage of software acquisition is accomplished through determining the internal system requirements and analysis of the available options. The business also prepares a document noting all the requirements and develops a request for proposal (RFP) as standard operating procedure. The vendors are required to quote in accordance with the software requirements and other related specifications documented in RFP. Later the best suitable software is selected on the basis of suitability and fulfillment of requirements.

The second popular category of software acquisition is through customization of the products. The identification and analysis of the requirements is handled according to the earlier defined processes. The customization of software is requested from software development organizations in order to fulfill specific business requirements. It is also essential for the companies dealing with business different from market and conventional practices. The customization of software requires additional cost and as a result the decision makers should also justify the benefits and return on investment. The third method usually adopted to acquire software products is through developing own system. The highly confidential and large business concerns adopt the process of developing their own products. The internal teams of the business or external services providers are required to fulfill the development of own software.

Capital Purchase of Software:

ABC Homecare Agency has adopted the option of acquiring COTS healthcare software used mainly by small to medium sized enterprises. The software should be aided by the database to store patient records and it should be accessible from the internal and external networks. The users of the software should be licensed and initially 100 users. The users can be increased through paying a negligible amount for increasing user's license (Bhogal, Grigsby, Peterson, & DeLuca, 2012). The initial cost of the software acquisition is estimated at $6,000 as well as including the software support for the company. The software will enable the agency to record its patient's history and treatment details. The software will also enable the agency to access customer records from any state using the provided access. The access levels are also defined in order to facilitate efficient handling of privacy information.

Management goals that expenditure would support:

According to Ward (2012) usual business expenses and capital investments are made to ensure that it achieves certain management objectives. Similarly the business investments made to improve operations and incorporate technology solution are also targeted at improving serviceability, productivity; provide quality, and employee development. Moreover all these functions combined it also helps the business achieve its profitability and increase revenues. The management of ABC home care agency has also set similar objectives for its capital investment. The business can achieve its goals through improving following critical factors.

Customer Satisfaction:

The software will not only enable the agency to store patient information but at the same time the information regarding the patients care will also be stored. The complete record of the patient will enable the caregivers including doctors, nurses, and administrative staff to retrieve patient information when required (Venkatesh, Zhang, & Sykes, 2011). It will allow the management to offer similar treatment to patients without having to take risk in ignoring the previous data. The availability of services will also be improved and as a result the patient's satisfaction level will also be increased.

Productivity:

The capital investment in acquiring software to facilitate patient record keeping and retrieval of information for using when required will also increase employee productivity. The software is capable of handling shift and attendance records of employees. The time required to manually retrieve patient records will also be reduced through computer-based database storage of data (Eggers, Schlotterbeck, Vanderveen, & Coffman, 2010). The data retrieval and storage time will be saved including the functions available through software to intimate the company with respect to critical patient needs saved in accordance with the requirements. The modern healthcare systems provide various notable features that can enhance employee productivity. These features will also be available through the acquired system.

Quality assurance:

Quality assurance is critical measure for any business especially homecare organizations. The quality of service and providing similar standard of service to the patients can be achieved through recording patient's data. The data can be later accessed and analyzed to define certain quality related objectives. The quality objectives to provide timely services and maintaining of patient records for later assessment will affect service quality. The management can achieve its objective to satisfy its customers through quality of their services (Hernon, & Altman, 2010). The capital investment in software will impact quality goals and provide a reliable reference for its patients.

Employee development:

It is essential for any organization to focus its attention on human resources development and provide essential trainings to its employees. The skills development and trainings provided to the employees is also an added advantage for service oriented organizations. The business requirements for updated and progressive services oriented firm include a detailed understanding for employee development. The software also has module for employees and it can hold the history and record of employees including their performance appraisals and training needs.

Revenue improvement:

According to Graban (2011) revenue improvement is one of the overall effects of customer satisfaction through quality services, increased productivity, and employee development. The organizational growth as a recognition for their quality of services results into satisfied customers and increases the probability of more healthcare consumers. The revenues of the agency are also increased and it the mission of any capital investment to raise additional profits and increase its customer base. The business is also benefited through expansion and broadening the revenue basis for the organization.

Economic environment of the organization:

The economic environment of the business is based on internal and external forces. The internal and economic environment of the business influences capital investment decisions. The relevance and magnitude of influence is however different based on the needs. The external economic environment of a business can be defined in terms of political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal aspects of the business. The internal economic environment of the business is related to the strengths and weaknesses of an organization. The capital purchases are also influenced by the economic forces in an organizational environment. It is also similar to the case of ABC home healthcare agency. The software purchase to record patient records will enable the business to reduce cost of operations and lead time to manage the business. The cost effective method to store and shorter lead time to retrieve customer records will enable the organization to focus on speedy delivery of services. The cost efficiency and improved quality of services enables an organization to become competitive and as a result gain increased market share.

The external environmental forces are instigators of uncertainty in the business environment and as a result the impact of uncertainty can raise a purchase decision. The changes in one of the external economic environment can create opportunities and threats for a business. The changes in technological environment of a business can lead to purchase computing software and equipment. The developments in computer technology and usage of internet to link various devices enable the business to develop a centralized database for its clients and use already stored information. It can not only reduce the cost of customer service but at the same time allow the organization to develop its relationships with the customers (Pride, & Ferrell, 2010). The purchase decision also enables the organizations to achieve their objectives and goals. The impact of internal and external environmental factors on a purchase can be observed through organizational performance. The evaluation of purchase decision is also performed prior to taking such decisions. It includes the value evaluation and cost benefit analysis of the decision.

Organizational goals:

The aims and objectives of an organization provide the ground for taking a capital investment decision similar to the ABC's decision of software purchase. Thevision and mission of business is accomplished through establishment of objectives and goals of an organization. The goals of an organization are consistent with the policy and as result they are setup to achive results. The goals of the agency are to provide medical and allied health education to their staff members, provide community services, and reduce the cost of operations. Additionally the business is also willing to increase leadership effectiveness and clinical research.

Patient care:

The software aided patient records management system enables the business to increase patient care. The records of patients are kept to maintain history and utilize this information upon requirement. The patients of agency are provided prompt services in case they are already registered in the system. The level of patient care protocols is also raised and satisfaction level for patients is also increased through these effective measures. The software allows the agency to share patient history and records internally to allow the consultants to suggest batter alternatives and diagnosis. The organizational goals of increasing patient care are fulfilled through implementation of computer-based software system in operations (Rummler, & Brache,2012).

Medical and allied health education:

The medical education and information update is the key to success in any medical services agency. The level of training and education for staff members is an added advantage to increase the service quality. The sharing of patient information and history with respect to diagnosis enhances the understanding of staff members regarding repeated patients and provides them a relevant background. The sharing of information within and outside the organizational paradigm allows the business to increase awareness and medical knowledge of their staff members. The consultants, physicians, nurses, medical attendants, and front line management staff are benefited through the accomplishment of management goals for increasing the level of education and training through software implementation.

Community service:

The overall objective of the organization to serve the larger interests of community and humanity can also be achieved through developing a quality oriented system. The improved quality of services and shorter lead time will allow the business to expand their operations and increase community reach. The business development and marketing of the quality services is also achieved through offering a competitive healthcare option for patients (Kotler, 2009). The community initiatives can also be taken in case of any emergency and environmental requirement. The patients with records in the database can be reached through their contact details and provided necessary healthcare services in such cases.

Cost containment:

The cost of operation is reduced through various technology initiatives. It is also observed that the human resources and time required to manually perform operation is reduced through deployment of computer-based software aided solutions. The technology is providing various alternatives to traditional approach in operations. The database systems and patient records systems also allow the business to offer patient care services on reduced cost. The economic conditions and healthcare cost is increasing as a result the operations cost is also affected. The software system can also help in reducing the cost of operations and allow the management to achieve the objectives of competitiveness. The capital expenditure of $6,000 will serve the management goals over an extensive period of time.

Leadership role:

The role of leadership and providing valuable system to work for the growth and achievement of objectives is enabled through the capital investment decision. The business can gain competitive advantage of gaining a leadership role in healthcare business. The services provided by the organization are advertised and customers are also satisfied with the performance. The software aided operations and interconnectivity of business operations enables management to assume a leadership role within the industry.

Clinical research:

The software allows the agency to keep record of the patient history and it can also be retrieved later for providing the essential services. One of the notable advantages of working with the software-based system is that it enables the organization to perform qualitative and quantitative research. It also helps the practitioners to perform clinical research and share their findings among professionals within the agency. The management aims to establish a feature to facilitate the physicians and consultants to carry out clinical research will also be supported through implementing software in the agency. The achievement for objectives of management is facilitated through software capital investment.

Needs of the organization:

The organizational goals to establish itself as a leading home healthcare services provider within the states of its operations require certain advancements in the operations. The existing system of manual operations and patients record handling cannot provide the required ground for growth. Knowingly that technology is integrated with business operations and as a result the processes are modernized. The management has to decide about the steps that can lead the agency towards desired goals and objectives. The business can benefit from the management vision and mission through deploying modern strategies for its operations (Brown, Bessant, & Lamming, 2013). The opportunities for growth and potential market expansion should also be researched prior to taking an investment decision.

The current status of small sized home healthcare agency can be replaced with a progressive growth oriented organization with operations in various states through acquiring computer systems to support operations. The advantages of using computers and software to perform operations are denoted as cost reduction, operation facilitation, and efficacy in services. The management goals to provide cost efficient services in effective and reduced time are achieved through deployment of software systems. The organization can also benefit from achieving the additional goals set by the management. These goals include the competitive cost of provided services, improving operations quality, customer satisfaction, and increasing education for the staff members.