Hospital Relationships Analysis

Background
Located in Bronx, New York’s Norwood section, Montefiore Medical is a teaching hospital named after Moses Montefiore and affiliated with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. In the top ten of NYC hospitals, it boasts a large and varied workforce (Montefiore Medical Center, 2017). It was founded in 1884 and houses 1,490 beds. While the main hospital has 200 to 500 employees, the organization hired more than 12,000 employees (Business Wire, 2004).
Montefiore Medical Center follows the traditional organizational structure of most hospitals. The CEO or Chief Executive Officer is Steven M. Safyer and serves also as the President. The organization employees a large staff of physicians, nurses, specialists, along with others that serve as the foundation for the organization regarding billing, administration, human resources, and operations. Alfredo Cabrera serves as both Chief Human Resources Officer and System Senior Vice President. Lynn Richmond serves as both the Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President. The Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President is Phillip O. Ozuah (Montefiore Medical Center, 2017).
The overall mission for Montefiore Medical Center is to teach, discover, heal, and advance the health of communities served (Montefiore Medical Center, 2017). The organization aims to lead in the area of medical innovation as well as community service because they believe it can improve the lives of patients in their care. Their vision involves becoming the premier academic medical center, enriching and transforming lives (Montefiore Medical Center, 2017). Their core values include humanity, innovation, teamwork, diversity, and equity (Montefiore Medical Center, 2017). They believe in a fair and equal work environment and promote respectful treatment of all patients regardless of gender, age, race, religion, or ethnicity. One hundred and twenty-five years ago, Montefiore Medical Center was established with the health in mind of the patients they protect and treat. Through innovations like establishment of multidisciplinary teams and latest medical equipment, the desire to be ahead in their field rings true (Montefiore Medical Center, 2017).
Review of Organizational Structure
Diversity is something that Montefiore prides itself in and shows it through their multi-cultural staff. The Executive Vice President mentioned earlier is an African-America man. There are also several women serving as leaders within the organization. Furthermore, doctors and nurses within the organization come from various cultures, have various religious beliefs, and are all treated equally. Therefore, Montefiore is regarded as a top hospital in the nation. “Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, N.Y. is nationally ranked in 1 adult specialty and 7 pediatric specialties and rated high performing in 7 adult specialties and 4 procedures and conditions” (USNews, 2017). A teaching hospital, Montefiore Medical Center scores top points in specialty areas like cancer and nephrology.
Along with enforcing the diversity value, innovation has been seen through other measures regarding ‘green initiatives. Part of the desire to implement green initiatives aside from innovation is to provide advancement of health for the communities they serve. To do this, the organization aims to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions via energy and waste reduction programs and improving/addressing sustainability measures. “Part of Montefiore’s mission is to advance the health of the communities we serve, and here at Montefiore we feel that cannot be accomplished without addressing sustainability, environmental and community health, and their place within the healthcare setting” (Montefiore Medical Center, 2017). The effort has provided further proof that the organization aims to adhere to their values in various areas.
The organizational structure often has leaders serving dual functions. Like the Chief Executive Officer serving as President and so forth. While at first serving dual functions within a job may seem potentially problematic, the efforts have paid off regarding Montefiore’s growth and improvement. Reaching the top ten in New York for hospitals shows that Montefiore can deliver the practical and medical aspect of healthcare.
Essentially, Montefiore has clear boundaries for each area of the hospital like Human Resources and Billing. However, they also allow departments within the hospital to integrate and provide high quality care to their patients (Montefiore Medical Center, 2017). This leads to the assessment that Montefiore is one of the best hospitals in the country due to their willingness to continually adhere to their values and implement positive changes within the organization and the community.
Review of the Stakeholder Relationship Diagram
There are various relationships that exist within a hospital like Montefiore. The first most important one is that with the patient. Patients encounter Reception, Nurses, Doctors, and Specialists. They are the ones that enter and leave the hospital and with their insurance or capital, pay for services and medicine prescribed to them. If they have a poor relationship with the nurses for example, they may have poor health outcomes and not want to visit that hospital again. High quality service promotes higher confidence in patients that the hospital is worthwhile and worth the monetary investment.
Doctors and Nurses interact with patients, but they also interact with Huma Resources and Specialists/Pharmacists to deliver high quality care. While they interact with each other, they must also meet the requirements and regulations of the hospital. Should they have difficulty within any of their job responsibilities, they can go to Human Resources and discuss their options. Doctors and nurses need an area where they can vent potential frustrations and deal with any legal ramifications of medical errors.
The next is Accountant/Administration/Billing. Billing is a major part of any hospital (Moini, 2011). Hospitals require money to survive within the field of healthcare. Administration and Accounting handles paperwork required for patient admittance and outpatient/inpatient services. This section is responsible for the creation, storage, and transference of medical health records. “The medical record is the most important item in the hospital and is used for communicating between health care providers and patients. It is a document that contains actual patient care events” (Moini, 2011, p. 670). Confidentiality and safety of privacy of patients is integral to high quality patient care. Therefore, the relationships in this area are significant.
The next area is Human Resources. Although part of this areas falls in with Hospital Administration, Human Resource Management is an important area of the organization that allows employees of the hospitals to air their grievances and can potentially serve as a mediator area for employees, leaders of the organization, and even patients (SHARMA, 2017). “Effective human resource management requires a great deal of information. Computer technology enables organizations to combine human resource information into a single database” (SHARMA, 2017, p. 269). Human Resources lends to the need to improve the technology aspect of hospitals to promote effective education between departments and a health work environment for staff.
When one area of these departments or segments fails, it can lead to potentially negative consequences. For example, the Human Resources department fails to address concerns a doctor may have with a patient that wants pain medication. The doctor believes the patient is an addict and could be faking symptoms to gain access to more pain medication. The patient is upset because he wants more pain medication, but the doctor feels morally obligated to discuss this with someone outside of the scenario first. If someone within Human Resources does not communicate with the doctor about his options, the doctor may decide to simply prescribe the medication for fear of hostility from the patent.
The patient takes the medication and overdoses from too many pain pills. The family comes back to the hospital and sues the doctor responsible for prescribing the medication. The hospital must take the lawsuit and pay accordingly. This can all stem from one area, Human Resources, failing to implement policy that assists and facilitates communication between them and the staff of the hospital. This is just one example of how influential and impactful one area of an organization like a hospital can be in the ‘bigger picture’.
What I’ve Learned
The selected organization, Montefiore Hospital and the various research and image tools allowed me to understand what it takes to organize such a large structure like a hospital. Hospitals run much like businesses where there are departments dedicated to billing and administrative processes. While nurses and doctors are integral parts of healthcare and the treatment of patients, what goes beyond that related to payments, insurance claims, and going further like use of specialists, receptionists processing intake data, all of this contributes to the effectiveness of a hospital.
Hospitals provide patients with medical and healthcare services. However, to do so, it involves a complex net of processes that constantly involve change and communication. Without these processes, the important actions like patient care cannot be done. Patients need treatment, but hospitals need money to run their organization effectively.


References
Business Wire. (2004, November 22). Montefiore Medical Center Standardizes 12,000 Employees On Kronos. Retrieved from https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20041122005098/en/Montefiore-Medical-Center-Standardizes-12000-Employees-Kronos
Moini, J. (2011). The pharmacy technician: A comprehensive approach. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar, Cengage Learning.
Montefiore Medical Center. (2017). Montefiore Medical Center - Leadership. Retrieved from http://www.montefiore.org/about-leadership
Montefiore Medical Center. (2017). Sustainability at Montefiore. Retrieved from http://www.montefiore.org/green-initiatives-environmental-sustainability
SHARMA, D. K. (2017). HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATION AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT. S.l.: PHI LEARNING.
USNews. (2017). Access Denied. Retrieved from https://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/area/ny/montefiore-medical-center-6213100