Week 1: Management Functions in Integrated Systems

Overview

Health services organizations (HSOs) are increasingly becoming commonplace as a mechanism to offer health care delivery in a variety of settings. They must also function as a component of business and management to maximize efficiency and effectiveness of processes involved in health care delivery. Thus, how does a manager or health care administrator manage HSOs?

It is not surprising that managers of HSOs face many challenges in their day-to-day tasks. Supporting quality improvement, maximizing revenue generation, and minimizing operational costs, all while managing stakeholder relationships, are just a few of the many tasks that managers of HSOs might encounter in their role.

This week, you examine health care environment factors and challenges associated with systems management for health care. You also explore HSOs’ approaches to addressing health care environment factors.

Discussion

Given that HSOs work within the context of local health care markets, there are various health care environment factors that may affect how HSOs operate. For example, consider how the implementation of technology may contribute to effectiveness or inefficiencies in health care delivery. What challenges might exist when implementing technology in health care delivery?

Questions such as these can be modified to include a range of health care environment factors within which HSOs operate. As a current or future health care administrator, health care environment factors may affect the specific management approaches you take with regard to decision making for health care delivery.

For this Discussion, refer to Figure 5.7 in the text, Managing Health Services Organizations and Systems. Then, select a health care environment factor that might affect the management environment within your HSO or an HSO with which you are familiar.

Post a brief description of the health care environment factor that you selected, and explain why you selected it. Then, explain how this health care environment factor is challenging the systems management approaches in your HSO or an HSO with which you are familiar. Be specific and provide examples.