Cooper Green Hospital and the Community Care Plan free essay sample

In the United States of America, it is estimated that forty eight million Americans are underinsured or uninsured (Strategic Management in Health care Organizations-2008). In today’s society, health care is a luxury indigent population cannot afford. Many families are made to choose shelter over health care when government assistance is not an option. When a family member becomes sick, the hospital emergency room becomes a walk-in clinic to treatment minor illnesses, the waiting room is usually over crowed, and this resulted in extensive waiting times to be seen by a health care provider. There were unique problems associated with delivering health care to an indigent population. The lack of communication, education, gang violence, vandalism, low enrollment, and marketing, became difficult obstacles to overcome. The rapid changes in US health care system and funding; Cooper Green Hospital was forced to make sufficient changes that had a negative impact on the hospital; the changes include staff lay-offs, taking beds of service, cutting programs, funding, revenue, and lack of resources to invest in capital projects. We will write a custom essay sample on Cooper Green Hospital and the Community Care Plan or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The quality of care, poor customer service; and long waiting times because factors that pointed to the problems Cooper Green Hospital faced. A positive change was imminent. Patients were dissatisfied by the lack of respect shown or compassion towards patients and the non-communication between departments. Most patients waited three weeks or more to schedule appointments to see a physician and experience longer wait time the day of the appointment. Cooper Green Hospital’s mission to provide quality medical care to the residents of Jefferson County remains the focus of the hospital. Doctor Michael developed a strategic planning program for the hospital; he merged inpatient and out-patient faculties converted Cooper Green Hospital into Jefferson Health System, developing a committed mission, value, and vision statements, and creating a management group within the hospital. Jefferson Health system provided services for â€Å"pre-paid membership, fee for service,† to the indigent, and insured populations (HealthFirst). Jefferson Health system wanted to advertise about their superior quality and satisfaction the hospital can provide to private insurance payers to attract more patients to the inpatient and out-patient services being offered in turn generate advanced profits, which will enhance their reputation and become more competitive in the market. Dr. Michael, a former chief of staff at Cooper Green Hospital developed a clinic the Community Care plan to provide services to under insured and uninsured population in its county. The Community Care plan will improve the health care to the community by offering services that will provide programs that will improve the health of the community. Doctor Michael was a visionary with a strategy to build a clinic that the community will monopolize to help eliminate trips to the emergency room for minor care. He hoped his plan would solve the community’s problems that would decrease wait time to be seen by a provider; treat indigent population, and deliver the highest quality of care to all patients. The Community Care Plan received funding from local businesses, foundations, and government agencies to open six clinics. The programs will begin with a free physical, Wellness program, and HealthPoints system created to keep members healthy. With the incentive, the member will receive points by participating in the three-month’s check up with their health care provider that will monitor the process of a member. Participants are engaged in exercise, eating well balanced meals; maintain healthy weight, utilization of the well-baby program, quitting smoking, and members are encouraged to obtain referrals before going to the emergency room for services. The hospital offered and assigned â€Å"financial support categories† that permitted low-income family to pay as little as two dollars for an office visit and families with higher-income levels paid full price for services. The expectations for a striving clinic fell short; clinics in violent areas showed low growth due to problems delivering health care to indigent population, gang violence, poor communication, and education. The Community Care Plan and Cooper Green Hospital approached multiple challenges’ training and education for the staff, coordination administrative job roles on the clinic and business side, information services, and out-dated computer medical records system. The staff deviated from the strategic plan allowing patients to be seen at clinics that weren’t designated for HealthFirst patients. The hospital’s administrative staff (management group) needed to monitor the external environment of the strategic plan; the emergent learning model is design to make necessary changes (Strategic Management in Health care Organizations-2008). The strategic plan for the hospital was off course in desperate need of an emergent plan to facilitate the direction set by the analytical model. However, changes in the US healthcare system environment brought health Managed Care and Health maintenance organization (HMO) into the health care environment. The health Managed Care System changed the way physician interact with patients, funding and cost became the forefront of healthcare; physician‘s assistance and nurse practitioners were used to cut cost, and malpractice insurance skyrocketed. Health Managed Care changed the protection net Cooper Green Hospital had for reimbursement Medicaid and fee for-service for poor and uninsured patients causing a financial hardship and cuts in services to make matters worse the hospital was accused of operating without a HMO license they were reprimanded and required to obtain the proper license or close in 90 days. Many providers did not adapt to the changes in time with the changing market. Doctor Michael strategic assumption (an ideal) to re-think the original plans for the clinic; he used the analytical model of strategic management, and emergent learning model appropriate for healthcare managers. He believed managers must expect to learn and establish new directions as they process emergent learning can reevaluate the course when the starting point doesn’t fit reality (Strategic Management in Health care Organizations-2008). Dr. Michael changed the course of the strategic plan when he failed to obtain the proper HMO license; he entered into a contract with a provider under the HMO umbrella to keep the clinic functioning. CONCLUSION The community was unaware of the free services and benefits being offered to them. The clinic was established to provide quality medical care to the residents, despite their inability to pay. Dr. Michaels ideal was noble, but the hospital developed a negative reputation that depicted poor quality of care and jeopardized the reputation of the organization where government funding was withheld and insured individuals refused to seek care at the hospital. Dr Michael remained loyal to his inspiration regardless of the roadblocks he endured he was determined to operate a hospital and clinic that provided services to his community/county.