Question
Module 2Assignment 2: Organizational Analysis – The Organization
Overview: Organizational Analysis – The Organization
The major assignment for this course is analysis of your organization. In this assignment, you will report the organization’s mission, philosophy, and administrative structure. You will compare and contrast what you find with the characteristics of organizations you have learned about in the lectures and presentations and in your own investigative reading.
Complete this assignment to demonstrate your analysis of the big picture of your organization.
Objectives
- Explain how organizations function.
- Compare and contrast characteristics of leadership and management
- Apply trends, issues, theories, and evidence as guidelines for management decision
- Evaluate effectiveness of communication patterns using specific management situation
Sample paper
Blanchard Valley Hospital Organizational Analysis
Introduction
Blanchard Valley Hospital is a non-profit acute care facility located in Findlay, Ohio. The facility has a 150-bed capacity, and has been operational for over 125 years (Blanchard Valley Health System (BVHS), n.d). The hospital provides a wide array of services including cancer care, childbirth, women’s health, physical therapy, pain management, radiology, orthopedics, cardiology, pharmacy, and among others. The hospital’s target clientele is drawn from eight county’s namely Putman, Hancock, Wyandot, Henry, Hardin, Wood, Seneca, and Allen counties. Findlay is a small micropolitan community found in Northwest Ohio. The hospital is accredited and has full standards compliance. The hospital maintains close ties with the community since it is a community-based health care organization.
Examination of the Organization
The hospital’s mission is “Caring for a lifetime”, while its “Extraordinary people. Exceptional care. Through its mission, the hospital aims at providing high quality care and especially to the members of the community. Through its vision statement, the hospital seeks to provide top-notch health service to the communities and to improve the people’s health outcomes. Blanchard Valley Hospital’s philosophy revolves around six core values, which include “Integrity, Compassion, Skill, collaboration, Innovation, and Humor” (Blanchard Valley Hospital, n.d). The administrative structure of the hospital comprises of a CEO at the helm, President, Continuing Care Services, President, Blanchard valley Medical Practices, Vice President, Patient Care Services, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Quality Officer, and the Vice President, BVHS Clinical Services. A board of trustees drawn from the local community governs the hospital.
Blanchard Valley Hospital maintains a functional organizational structure. In this structure, different segments of the organization are grouped as per the purpose they serve. The hospital is divided into departments, each dealing with a particular line of work. Each department has a departmental head, and all employees working in the department are expected to report to their respective departmental heads. Some of the departments are imaging department, billing department, orthopedics department, cancer center, intensive care unit, obstetrics, gynecology, and other departments.
Strengths and Limitations of Blanchard Valley Hospital
One of the major strengths of Blanchard Valley Hospital is strong performance ratings in over five medical procedures. The ratings are based on data drawn from over 5,000 medical centers countrywide (“UPMC,” 2017). The scores are awarded basing on care-related factors and patient outcome. The specialties with highest rating in the hospital include hip replacement, knee replacement, heart failure, colon cancer surgery, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Another strength of the hospital is that it has modern facilities and equipment. Blanchard Valley Hospital prides itself as one of the leading health facilities in the state of Ohio. The organization has modern equipment that contributes to the achievement of high patient outcomes. Another strength is the hospital’s reliance on modern technology to improve service delivery. For instance in 2015, the hospital adopted a clinically integrated network that would help patients to navigate seamlessly, improving on efficiency, access and quality of care provided (“Blanchard Valley Health System,” 2015).
A major limitation facing the hospital is staff demotivation. Blanchard Valley Hospital lacks an elaborate system for motivating their employees. For instance, there is lack of career advancement opportunities to employees, which makes them feel demotivated. In addition, promotion opportunities are limited or non-existent. Other challenges that the hospital faces relates to operational efficiency and patient satisfaction levels. A survey conducted in 2015 indicated that patients expressed dissatisfaction with busy signals, lengthy holds on phone, and repeated calls requiring patients to provide details, which the patient had already submitted to a different department (“Academy for Excellence in Healthcare,” 2016). Some employees think the management is high-handed. For instance, they argue that the management disregards their feedback. This is a major limitation since the management should ensure that it makes all employees feel part of the organization and part of the decision making process.
Care Delivery System
One of the critical roles for the management in any organization is decision-making. The management is in charge of making key decisions that enhance growth or transform the organization in some way. The management makes decision of the type of care delivery system that a health care organization should utilize. At Blanchard Valley Hospital, progressive patient care delivery system and team nursing system are used. The progressive patient care (PPC) delivery system recommends that patients be placed in units depending on their specific needs for care. Under the PPC, the degree of illness determines which unit the patient will end up. For instance, if the patient is critically ill, they are taken to the ICU unit where nursing care is also accorded depending on the degree of illness. Due to this system, one is likely to find intensive care units for those who are critically ill, self-care units meant for convalescent patients, intermediate care units, and beds in outpatient departments.
The other form of care delivery system is team nursing, which is also common at the hospital. However, not all aspects of the team nursing system are adopted. The most common is the division of responsibilities, where one nurse may be in charge of medications while another one is in charge of baths. There could also be a nurse in charge of physical care. In implementing critical decisions such as those contributing to fundamental changes in the workplace, the management must develop a leadership style that makes it possible to bring about change. The best leadership style in this case is one that gives the management strong control over the entire organization.
Outcomes and Measurements
A number of patient outcome measures are used to assess the quality of patient care at the facility. One of the specific patient outcome that is measured by the hospital is hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) or conditions. The infections under watch by the hospital are MRSA infection, diff infection, urinary tract infection during ICU stay, blood infection during ICU stay, and surgical site infection following colon surgery. Hospital acquired infections are nurse-sensitive clinical indicators. The hospital measures HAI rates by keeping data of all HAIs that occur during a patient’s stay at the hospital. The hospital-acquired infections are then monitored using a Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade comprises of three measures: below average, moderate, and above average. These show whether the hospital is performing well in terms of controlling the hospital-acquired infections.
The second patient outcome measured by the hospital is readmission rates within the first month after discharge. This is a system-wide outcome that evaluates nearly all of the hospital’s departments involved in patient care. It is worth noting that readmission incidents can be eliminated when hospital staff follows best practices when they are treating staff. The hospital’s readmission rates are evaluated using a national benchmark to evaluate whether they fall under or over the benchmark. The readmission rates also take into account how sick the patient was before he/she is readmitted back into the hospital. This measure also tries to examine what could have happened to the specific patient leading to a readmission. The hospital takes a risk-adjusted approach when calculating readmission rates. The readmission rates are monitored by comparing the readmission figures to the national benchmark. If the readmission rates are lower, the better it is for the hospital (Hospital Care Data, n.d).
References
Academy for Excellence in Healthcare. (2016). Improved patient scheduling at Blanchard Valley Health system. Retrieved from https://fisher.osu.edu/supplements/10/16338/IAP%20C- 04%20BVHS%20full%20report.pdf
Blanchard Valley Health System. (2015). 100 Top Hospital. Retrieved from http://ohiohospitals.org/OHA/media/Images/Patient%20Safety%20and%20Quality/Docu ments/Quality%20Summit/Kose.pdf
Blanchard Valley Health System. (n.d). About BVHS. Retrieved from http://www.bvhealthsystem.org/about-bvhs/administration
Hospital Care Data. (n.d). Readmission rates at Blanchard Valley Hospital.
Retrieved from https://hospitalcaredata.com/facility/blanchard-valley-hospital-findlay- oh-45840/readmission-rates
Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade. Blanchard Valley Hospital. Retrieved from http://www.hospitalsafetygrade.org/h/blanchard-valley-health-system
UPMC. (2017). Blanchard Valley Hospital. Retrieved from http://health.usnews.com/best- hospitals/area/oh/blanchard-valley-hospital-6410017
