WGU C158 Organizational Leadership and Interprofessional Team Development 2023 Essay

Business Practices Any successful business has a concrete model. The healthcare industry is no exception. For any healthcare system to succeed in today’s market, a patient-centered business practice is imperative. The patient-centered model was conceived over 30 years ago by Angelica Thieriot after her own hospitalization due to a trauma, according to Charmel & Frampton (March 2008). She envisioned a healthcare system that placed the patient at the center of the practice model, where they make decisions along with providers and are a welcomed partner in their healthcare. Since the introduction of patient-centered care, health systems have had to adapt their business practices to providing individualized care to their consumers. The patient is no longer tied to one health system but can freely choose where they receive care. Thus, healthcare systems have had to adapt to a consumer-based approach by recognizing patients have a choice of a variety of healthcare systems. The public has become more educated in evaluating their healthcare choices, thus polices and procedures, and patient-focused mission statements and values are imperative to the success of any organization in today’s market. By adopting the core concepts of patient- and family-centered care, as set forth by the Institute of Patient- and FamilyCentered Care (2018), a healthcare organization can adopt a solid business model and will effectively relay their commitment to quality to the public. Successful healthcare systems are structured on a business model that can also freely adapt to a fluid environment. They learn to do more with less, individualize care to their patrons’ needs and preferences, and become effectively efficient with the resources on hand, while constantly monitoring new technologies to improve patient outcomes. Organizational Leadership 3 Regulatory Requirements Regulatory requirements have helped enhance the concept of patient-centered care. Regulatory bodies, such as the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), place regulations on healthcare services that inspire facilities to provide a high level of care. Quality Measures are an example of rules set by CMS to help guide facilities to deliver safe, quality healthcare by outlining definitive steps and outcomes that must be met to meet each initiative’s goal. The Joint Commission is another accrediting body that sets forth standards for the delivery of safe patient care, known as National Patient Safety Goals. These goals are developed and revisited on an annual basis. The number of regulatory requirements placed on healthcare facilities changes constantly. Government agencies and regulating bodies are constantly monitoring the state of healthcare in the United States and revise and create new regulations in order to keep patient safety at the forefront of healthcare. Reimbursement While private payments and insurance revenue are a big part of reimbursement for any facility, these two cannot sustain the life of any healthcare facility in today’s economy. To be able to compete in an ever-evolving milieu, federal reimbursement must be a constant source of income. In 2008, CMS transformed their reimbursement model for acute care facilities by tying payment to patient outcomes. This meant that government funds would no longer pay for mistakes made during a patient’s hospitalization and the hospital would have to absorb the cost of care (Sullivan, 2012, p. 2). Payment for performance became the standard at this time. Organizational Leadership 4 Quality initiatives were then put into place to set a standard for which patient outcomes could be measured. This helped to adopt the mindset that prevention played the key role in successfully managing a patient’s care, rather than treatment as the result of poor care. Patient and Family Centered Care Tool The PFCC tool is attached to this document. Setting Description The healthcare setting that was used for the Patient- and Family-Centered Care Organizational Self-Assessment Tool is a nonprofit acute care Level III trauma facility located in the urban area of northwest Arkansas. It is currently a 200-bed facility, but it is due to open another tower in August 2019, which will add 100 more beds. It is one of 41 hospitals in the Sisters of Mercy network that spans four states in the Midwest region of the country. This facility employs greater than 1500 co-workers and is the region’s second largest employer. The hospital has seven floors which contains a 35-bed emergency department, a newborn intensive care unit, a dedicated pediatric department, along with many specialty units. It is the only hospital in northwest Arkansas that has the capability to offer ECMO services to intensive care patients in need. Mercy NWA is a designated stroke and cardiac center and has a bariatric center of excellence. This facility is also pioneering the virtual medicine field by being the first acute care hospital in the United States to provide an in-house virtual medical/surgical nurse to support bedside staff and improve safety for all patients on higher-ratio units. Mercy NWA recently earned an “A” on Leapfrog. The population that Mercy NWA serves is a diverse one. Due to the area being the home of several home offices for global companies, such as Wal-Mart, J. B. Hunt, and Tyson, there is Organizational Leadership 5 opportunity to attend to many cultures from around the world. According to the County Health Rankings and Roadmaps (CHRR, 2017) website, the population makeup of Benton county is diverse and is identified in six different groups, with the white population being the biggest at 74.2%. Hispanics or Latinos are the second largest group at 16.4%, while Asian is third at 3.7%. Smaller groups identified as being residents in 2017 are American Indian or Alaskan native (1.9%), non-Hispanic African American (1.8%), and those identifying as Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander (0.4%). A unique population to the facility is that of the Marshallese islanders. When the United States bombed the Marshall Islands during World War II, the government set up refuge for the island’s inhabitants in northwest Arkansas. This group of people present a distinctive challenge and it is well met at the facility. The age range for patients is newborn to the very old. The hospital can deliver a baby from the gestational age of 29 weeks and take care of it in the newborn intensive care nursery and it serves the very old at the end of life. All ages are represented in the patient population. Economically, Mercy takes great strides to take care of the underprivileged by having a large volunteer base, made up of co-workers, that donate their time in the community with events such as working in the local soup kitchens, holding blood pressure clinics at the community centers, and volunteering at numerous events throughout the year to provide man power to make them successful. The facility sees patients from all socioeconomic backgrounds. Due to the large job market in the area, an average of 1500 families move into the area yearly, which makes the economic population quite diverse. The average median income for the county is $60,249 with 15% of the total population living below the poverty level, which is above the national rate of 12%, according to CHRR (2017). Twenty-two percent of children live in a single-parent household. Mercy provides care to all. Organizational Leadership 6 Strengths and Weaknesses of the Organization Domain Strength Weakness Leadership/Operations Patient-centered care is the primary focus of operations. It is called the Mercy Signature Service. Clear expectations are outlined for commitment to excellent patient care standards and there is accountability throughout the organization that flows from bedside staff to upper management. Patients are interviewed randomly, and policies/procedures are developed from those findings. Patients do not actively sit on boards or committees. Mission, Vision, Values The mission statement is designed in a circle and the patient is in the center. The vision and values statements also encompass the patient at the center of focus. N/A Advisors Surveys are completed on a yearly basis to poll needs of the current patient population. Families and patients are not included in this domain. There are currently no opportunities for them to be actively involved as advisors, other than through surveys. Quality Improvement Patients and their families are interviewed by leadership on walking rounds at least once during their stay. This gives them somewhat of a voice in operational/strategic aims and goals. Patients and families are not involved as active participants on task forces or QI teams. They do not participate in quality or safety and risk meetings. The are not part of teams that attend IHI, NPSF or other meetings.