Massachusetts General Hospital's evolution toward specialized care

Hospital for Special Surgery

In America there a wide variety of healthcare organizations, that have specialized in addressing the needs of various patients. Part of the reason why this occurring, is many facilities are unable to address the challenges facing those individuals requiring some kind of specialty care. As a result, a number of hospitals have evolved to deal with these issues. One such example of this is with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Even though the facility was established as a community hospital in 1811, their overall mission has evolved. What has been happening is the hospital has become more focused on: offering specialized care and innovative health solutions. This is an effort by the administration to build upon their outstanding reputation through: improving the overall quality of care that patients are receiving. ("Hospital Overview," 2011)

As a result, the facility has become known for the specialty care and the research that they are providing. Evidence of this can be seen with the fact that the hospital was ranked as one of the top facilities for receiving specialized care by U.S. News and World Reports. This is important, because it is showing how MGH is at forefront of innovations that are occurring in the world of medicine. ("Hospital Overview," 2011)

However, rising costs and shifts in demand can mean that Massachusetts General is unprepared for the challenges they will face in the future. This is when the quality of care will begin to decline. To fully understand how the hospital is able adapt to these changes requires looking at: the organization, its legal, social and economic environments. Once this takes place, it will provide the greatest insights as to how the facility was able to adapt to these challenges. ("Hospital Overview," 2011)

Describe the Organization

Like what was stated earlier, Massachusetts General Hospital established it reputation by: providing the public with high the highest quality of services available. As time went by the mission and focus of the facility has continued to evolve. Now it is considered to be multidisciplinary medical center. This is when the hospital will focus on a number of areas of specialization to include: cancer, heart disease, digestive disorders, transplants, pediatrics and vascular medicine. This is significant, because it is showing how the facility will concentrate on addressing the needs of various ailments. As a result, their focus has shifted from serving the needs of the general public to becoming more of a specialty care center.

To provide these different services, MGH has 900 beds and different programs that help to improve specialty services. A few of the most notable include: outstanding research / development and they have an emphasis on teaching. At the same time, the hospital will have different health centers open to the general public. This is designed to address the needs of the public though: innovative care and focusing on what services are important to the community. Below is some of the most notable achievement of these clinics to include:

Serving 1.5 million outpatients.

Recording 83 thousand emergency room visits.

Delivered 3,700 babies.

Conducted 37 thousand operations.

This is significant, because it is showing how MGH is playing a role in providing specialty care. However, through their clinics they are addressing some of the needs of the community. Over the course of time, this will improve their: brand recognition and the quality of care that is being provided.

Social Environment

The social environment of the facility is designed to embrace the traditions of the past, while giving everyone the flexibility to be creative. This has allowed innovation to flourish inside the different departments. It also has means that there is a lack of creativity is taking place. This is because the social environment allows certain amounts of freedom for the individual. However, this is also allowing for: attitudes of complacency and sloppiness. This is problematic, because it is showing how the social environment is contributing to the underlying challenges that have been facing MGH recently. (Monagan, 2000)

Economic Environment

Like with all health care providers, MGH has been wrestling with similar challenges. To deal with these issues the hospital began implementing what is known as the Care Management Program. In this strategy, the staff is using technology to improve collaboration and communication. Since this was launched in January, the hospital was able to increase their savings by over $1 on every single patient procedure. This is important, because it is highlighting how the facility is dealing with various financial challenges that they are facing. As a result, they have created a model that has been bringing MGH tremendous amounts of notoriety for its success. ("Health Care Uncovered," 2011)

Clearly, Massachusetts General Hospital is facing a number of different challenges the most notable include: increasing medical errors and rising costs (two potential change factors). The issue of medical errors is a sign that staff is beginning to become overwhelmed with patients. To address these challenges, some kind of procedures need, to be implanted to prevent obvious mistakes. While rising costs, have been dealt with through the Care Management program. This has helped to reduce the expenses associated with treating patients by as much as $1 per procedure. As a result, these different elements are showing how the hospital needs to adapt to various issues that could have an impact on the quality of care. This is significant, because it is illustrating the challenges that MGH is deal with. At the same time, is showing how the flexibility and strategies utilized by management to deal with the various issues (i.e. rising costs). These two elements are important for all health organizations, to address in the future, so that they can effectively respond to the changing needs of patients.