Goals for Stevens District Hospital Part 2

HCS/499

Goals for Stevens District Hospital Part 2

Realizing the importance of setting organizational goals can be the difference between a successful organization versus an organization that fails. According to Devra Gartenstein (2019), “Goal setting is an important tool not only for clarifying direction but also for assessing organizational progress. Set clear goals and be realistic, as those enable you to be more effective toward guiding your performance and evaluating your results.” (para. 1). Stevens Hospital is looking to improve their services and compete with other health care providers that have been taking a larger share of the market. Implementing new goals like expanding medical staff, implementing an EMR to help with regulatory guidelines and patient scheduling, and open one of the six desired departments like orthopedic or women’s services.

Quality Management Increase Medical Staff

One of Stevens District Hospitals issues appears to be the shortage of medical staff, especially in orthopedics, oncology, and primary care. One of the goals of Stevens District Hospital should be to increase the number of medical staff, to provide adequate service to patients. A plan of action to obtain the goal of increasing medical staff should include a medical staff recruiting campaign. The campaign should take into consideration the nation-wide shortage of medical professionals due to the increasing numbers of individuals with medical needs especially groups in the age 65 and over. “The United States could see a shortage of up to 120,000 physicians by 2030, impacting patient care across the nation, according to new data published today by the AAMC.” (Association of American Medical Colleges, 2018).

Increasing the amount of medical staff to provide better health care to patients fits with the mission and vision statements of Stevens District Hospital especially when part of the mission statement is to provide with patients with exceptional services and the vision statement where it states to be the health care provider of choice of patients and health care professionals. Measuring the progress of increasing medical staff should be done by counting the number of overall health care providers under the employment of Stevens District Hospital. Another way to measure progress is to measure the amount of medical staff per capita of the patient population of the hospital. The criteria used to measure the success of the goal would be the patient turn around times, patient visit satisfaction and service speed. Increasing the number of medical staff should decrease patient wait times, increase the satisfaction ratings by patients and create a less stressful work environment for the medical staff. The increase of medical staff to influence other aspects of hospital business in a positive way.

Regulatory Goal Implementing EMR

Another issue highlighted by the SWOT analysis of Stevens District Hospital is the struggle to accommodate patient scheduling requests to establish care with a primary care physician. Implementing an Electronic Medical Records system (EMR) will help accommodate patient scheduling as well as prepare Stevens Hospital with future regulations in the form of EHR mandates. “The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provides incentives to encourage eligible clinicians to use health IT, most notably certified electronic health record (EHR) technology. Certified EHR technology makes it possible for clinicians to submit information electronically to CMS in a format CMS can process.” (HealthcareIT.com, n.d.). The advantages of an EMR system align with the vision and mission statements of Stevens District Hospital of providing high-quality care and being the healthcare provider of choice of medical staff and patients.

To measure progress toward the goal of full EMR usage internal and external auditing would be necessary to prove the increase or decrease of system usage and knowledge by medical staff. Milestones necessary for progress should be measured by the increased usage and comfort by medical staff and patients of the EMR system. The criteria that should be used to measure that the goal was completed is the full participation of usage of the EMR system by medical staff and patients. Patient and medical staff satisfaction should increase due to the ease of access to patient medical records and the ease of sharing information with other authorized health care providers. The goal in regulation criteria would be the ability to participate in CMS’s Incentive Payment System (MIPS). “MIPS harmonizes existing CMS quality programs (including meaningful use), the Physician Quality Reporting System, and Value-Based Payment Modifiers. MIPS consolidates multiple, quality programs into a single program to improve quality care.” (HealthcareIT.com, n.d.).

Financial or Economic Goal Create Additional Department

Another issue found in Stevens District Hospitals the lack of services provided. Currently, the hospital employs three family practice physicians, one obstetrician, one medical oncologist, and one non-invasive cardiologist. The addition of a new service like orthopedics should help Stevens District Hospital increase revenue. “When it comes to “creating new streams of revenue” for hospitals, this most commonly refers to adding new service lines. Larry Moore, CFO of Cumberland Medical Center in Crossville, Tenn., agrees increasing market share through new services is the most effective way to deal with any reduction in net payments.” (Beckershospitalreview.com, 2011). According to the SWOT analysis, there is a 16% increase in people over the age of 65 years of age.

Adding a new service at Steven District hospital fits with the mission and vision statement of the hospital where it states offering a comprehensive range of services and to create a large, multispecialty physician practice system. Measuring progress toward the goal should include planning goals, financial goals, and construction goals. Milestones necessary for progress should include the hiring of specialized health care providers as well as, the construction of a new department. The criteria that should be used to measure that the goal was complete is a fully operational department. Increased in patients intake, increase revenues, full medical staff for the new department along with technology to support it.

Conclusion

Stevens Hospital is looking to improve their services and compete with other health care providers that have been taking a larger share of the market. Implementing new goals like expanding medical staff, implementing an EMR to help with regulatory guidelines and patient scheduling, and open one of the six desired departments like women’s services or orthopedic services. The implementing of the three goals along with telemedicine should put Stevens District Hospital back among the top hospitals in the region.

References

Association of American Medical Colleges. (2018). New research shows increasing physician

shortages in both primary and specialty care. Retrieved from https://news.aamc.org/press-releases/article/workforce_report_shortage_04112018/

Beckershospitalreview.com. (2011). Financial Management. Retrieved from

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/10-ways-for-hospitals-and

health-systems-to-increase-profitability-in-2012.html

Gartenstein, D. (2019). Why Is Goal Setting Important in Organizations?. Retrieved from

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/goal-setting-important-organizations-2509.html

HealthcareIT.gov. (n.d.). Meaningful Use and MACRA. Retrieved from

https://www.healthit.gov/topic/meaningful-use-and-macra/meaningful-use-and-macra