Organizational design and internal factors shaping Legacy Home Health Care

Organizational Design

A health care agency or hospital design is very important as it portrays the beliefs and values of that health care. Designs should be designs that care not only for the physicians, trustees, administrators but also for the patients. Thus seeking architectural advice for the construction of a health care is imperative.

There are several architectural design phases such as Schematic design (SD), design development (DD and construction documents (CD). Designs are important to ensure that original intents are not comprised in terms of internal readiness and processes improvement plans.

The design of my healthcare organization, the Legacy Home Health Care in Texas, is such that all types of processes have been mapped beginning from admitting, discharge, billing, and medication requirements. This simplifies the work thus eliminating inefficiencies and focusing mainly on improving patient care.

In addition, the design is such that all the staff is familiar with design features of the Legacy Home Health Care and is also driven by community and program needs by complying with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (an internationally recognized green building certification system) in efforts to becoming carbon neutral.

Factors that define and shape the health care agency

Robert F.Carr (2010) quotes Winston Churchill (1941) as having said that "We shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us." He further notes that the design of a facility carries the message to visitors, patients, vendors, volunteers and even the staff themselves. It communicates clues about the organization and the medical care being provided there. The facility design should convey a message that is welcoming, caring, comfort, and compassion, commitment to well-being and safety, features that are evident in Legacy Home Health Care.

External factors

According to Walter Johnson (2011), the designs of other organizations affect other organizations and help improve the design of each particular organization and the design illustrates as to how quick an organization can respond to an external environment. These factors include:

Culture of the organization- National Institute of Health Report,(2001) agrees with the work of Leatt (2000) that each organization has its own distinctive culture even at different operating units of the organization. Strong cultures can have significant influence on organizational performance thus shaping what size the organization can become, decision making and processes.

Leaders have a responsibility of shaping the culture of their organization as it is significantly influenced by environment, individuals and organization wide factors. Legacy Home Health Care has the trend of providing quality health care regardless of age, sex, race, religion, national origin or handicap status within the comforts of their own homes, in both rural and urban settings (Legacy Home Health Care, 2011), and this is a culture that has been embedded in the organizational structure.

Competition- every industry has its competitors. As the environment becomes increasingly competitive, health care organizations lay different strategies raging from, downsizing, reengineering, restructuring in order to improve organizational effectiveness and efficiency. Leatt (1997). Legacy Home Health Care has positively used such strategies to improve its structure, size and process so as to be relevant in the marketplace without bruising the quality of care we provide. Further more Legacy Home Health Care maintains a modern form structure that ensures employee satisfaction thus reducing employee labor turn over.

Technology -- technology has become a major driver and strategy for remaining competitive in all sectors of the economy. The design of my health care agency is that it allows space for changes in technology and a flexible structure that ensures that there are no standardized routines or process that, in essence will stagnate the progress of the agency since the environment is continuously dynamic and ever changing.

Yes, the demand of more accountability has affected the behavior of my organization in a number of ways.

In the first place, the Legacy Home Health Care has undergone changes over the last decade to include health care reforms, health policies and health insurance. Public and individual health has been grounded ethical principles like prevention of harm, justice and beneficence and individuals expect that these principles will be upheld.

Accountability has become more critical and some agencies like my health agency recognize not only promotion of good health, but enabling individuals to be healthy and accountable for their own health. While it is important for the government, public and private agencies, insurance companies and other health related groups to give people opportunity to learn about health and how they can attain healthy living, it is ultimately up to the individual to take personal challenge to stay healthy. Meghan S & McGowan (2011)

My health agency has also been keen to involve patients in care to reduce their cost of treatment by advising individuals to practice a healthy living because people who practice healthy living fall sick less often and tend to live for longer.