Hospital Trends 1. How is the current economic environment affecting hospitals? According to the article, “The Economic Downturn and Its Impact on Hospitals”, the current economic environment is affecting hospitals and other heath care facilities in a number of ways. The most common issue relates to inability of the hospitals to obtain and secure relevant financing that enables health institutions to meet their daily obligations. Since most payments in hospitals lags behind the amount expected to deliver health care, most of the times hospitals are forced to borrow funds from financial institutions to meet their operating expenses. With this issue of economic downturn, borrowing funds from financial institutions has become very difficult, and the little loans obtained have become very expensive to repay (TREADWATCH, 2009). Another effect include the problem of increased number of patients under the government Medicaid program, the uninsured, and the underinsured .The crisis made many people lose their jobs hence limiting the amount of money payable to medical insurance companies, which on the other hand reduce the amount payable to the hospitals. Another effect includes loss of jobs to both health specialists and low cadre staff, which has been attributed to increased uncertainty of when the current situation will improve (Jimmy, 2000). Many opponents of the recession claim that many health practitioners in the end might quit their medical practices rather than agree to receive reduced reimbursements from the government Medicare programs. 2. What changes in goals and strategy are hospitals likely to employ in the current environment? Given the effects and seriousness of this situation, hospitals need to be very conv... ... middle of paper ... ...unity relates to the idea of health institutions engaging in other money generating projects. Conclusion After analyzing all the above issues about recession in health care sector, I am contented that health care reforms are very much needed and they require the support of the people because they are the ones’ who pay taxes and should be effectively addressed by providing them with good health services. Works Cited Jimmy, K. (2000). ‘Health care reforms after Recession.’ American Psychiatric Association, 3(2), 23-65. TREADWATCH. (2009). The Economic Downturn and Its Impact on Hospitals (pdf). Retrieved from http://www.aha.org/aha/research-and-trends/index.html Primer, A. (2007). ‘Medicare.’ Journal of Health, 2(7), 12-27. Retrieved from
Determined healthcare systems routinely examine their environments internally and externally to locate significant trends and forces in the present and for the future which will have an effect on their performance goals and mission efforts. These healthcare systems understand who their stakeholders are, their needs and how best to meet those expectations and needs. These systems give attention to specific efforts on accomplishing goals that acquire opportunities in the whole environment while they continue to adjust their internal structures and functions. Precise aims are dealt with by uninterrupted sequences for performance improvements. Strategic directions for systems originate from the mission and directives. Strategic directions are identified by observing key stakeholders, addressing their interests and being proactive about responding to current, as well as, future shifts and trends in the systems’ entire environment (Skinner, 2001).
In the operating budget, the organization prepares to include the costs of acquisition of items to assist in providing goods and services in more than one fiscal year. In the case of Denison, the organization considers a capital purchase of $500,000 in oncology equipment to better serve their patients. The purchase of the new equipment will be paid immediately, however, the equipment maintains a five-year life span and expected to be used evenly over that life time (Finkler et al., 2013). After the five-year life of the equipment, the value amounts to zero because the capital item charges as an expense on a straight-line depreciation—the cost of asset spread over the useful life (Hui, 2013). The following graph illustrates the depreciation expense of the oncology equipment purchased by Denison Hospital.
The hospital hopes to achieve their aims by being clear with their partners and staff about their mission, vision and values. In order to ensure this, the hospital plans to create stronger links between their strategic goals and the way they manage and empower their workforce through appraisal and development planning. The hospital’s mission is straightforward: to provide clinical services, teaching, and research of the highest quality (uhbristol.uk, 2013. Their values drive the appro...
Healthcare has now become one of the top social as well as economic problems facing America today. The rising cost of medical and health insurance impacts the livelihood of all Americans in one way or another. The inability to pay for medical care is no longer a problem just affecting the uninsured but now is becoming an increased problem for those who have insurance as well. Health care can now been seen as a current concern. One issue that we face today is the actual amount of healthcare that is affordable. Each year millions of people go without any source of reliable coverage.
The U.S. spending on health care is an outlier compared to other industrialized countries. On an individual basis heath care in the U.S is approximately double what other industrialized countries spend. On a total spend basis, the $3 trillion currently consumed in this sector represents the world’s fifth-largest economy. This high spending on healthcare is unsustainable in the long term. Businesses, individual consumers, and the government are consequently not insulated from the shrinking economic growth due to the ramifications of the high healthcare costs. In a global competitive market the U.S. business will lag behind other industrialized countries unless these high healthcare costs are curtailed. In addition, individuals, even those with insurance face the grim prospect of bankruptcy due to the high cost of care.
Healthcare has been a topic of discussion with the majority of the country. Issues with insurance coverage, rising costs, limited options to gain coverage, and the quality of healthcare have become concerns for law makers, healthcare providers and the general public. Some of those concerns were alleviated with the passing of the Affordable Care Act, but new concerns have developed with problems that have occurred in the implementation of the new law. The main concerns of the country are if the Affordable Care Act will be able to overcome the issues that plagued the old healthcare system, the cost of the program, and how will the new law affect the quality of the health delivery system.
Bigalke, J. T. (2009, February). Healthcare Financial Management [Managing Uncertainty to succeed in the new health economy]. , (), . doi: Retrieved from
When assessing where the industry will go over the next ten years, there is one area that stands out. Government involvement in healthcare has become a major player in how this industry is changing. New regulations are being introduced at a rapid rate and have pushed hospitals into constant change management (Arab Kash, Spaulding, Johnson, & Gamm, 2014).
Foster’s report also said that about 14 million people would lose their employer coverage by 2019, due to small employers terminating coverage and workers who currently have employer coverage enrolling in Medicaid. . CMS also reports Medicare cuts may not be realistic and sustainable, causing 15 percent of all hospitals, nursing homes and similar providers into the red within 10 years. Yet according to Beland and Waddan, the premises will increase only growth by the three quarters of the rate at which it could have grown in the absence of the
There has been a lot of talk and debate lately over Health Care Reform, as people are trying to answer the question – Should a universally accessible health care system be implemented in the United States (US)? This ongoing highly debatable issue remains a hot topic among US citizens from all walks of life, from the very poor to the very wealthy. Health Care Reform affects everyone. The vast majority of the US population is very dissatisfied with the current state of health care. According to the ABC News and Washington Post cooperative poll, 57 percent of Americans aren’t satisfied with the overall system of health care (Langer, 2009). Consequently, the issue of the Health Care Reform was born, but before analyzing the actual aspects of this reform it will be wise to brush up on those major attitudes and concerns which occupy ordinary people and how they respond to the unfolding changes in the area of health care and social security.
In order to fully understand the uninsured and underinsured problem that hospital administrators face the cause must be examined. The health outcomes of uninsured individuals are generally worse than those who are insured. Uninsured persons are more likely to experience avoidable hospitalizations, diagnosed at later stages of disease, hospitalized on an emergency or urgent basis, and more seriously ill upon hospitalization (Simpson, 2002) Because the uninsured often lack an ongoing relationship with a health-care provider, they are less likely to receive preventive care and diagnostic tests (Kemper, 2002). Many corporations balance their budget through cost cuts and other moves, but have been slammed with an increasing load of uninsured patients, coupled with reduced payments from government and private insurance programs. In 2000, 564,476 uninsured patients came through Health and Hospitals Corporations health care centers, a 30 percent increase from 1996. In the same period, Congress reduced Medicare reimbursements to hospitals, while Medicaid reimbursements to primary care clinics remained basicall...
For several decades, this high level of spending on health care in the United States has been the subject of discussion and scrutiny. In fact, the rapid increase in health care spending affects major economic indicators such as, per capita GDP, employment and inflation. Furthermore, the effects are likely to occur across all sectors of the economy, businesses and households; as all these inter-related sectors play an important role in the provision, financing and consumption of health care in the United States (Virts & Wilson, 1984, vo...
According to Roy, 2013 the issues of providing the affordable care act will unite both the supporters and offenders of the public policy, but in this current situation where the input costs are rising, it will become impossible for government in managing the public policy related to affordable health care. In order to provide affordable health care, majority of the US government has tried out different policies time to time, but unable to get success in realizing the actual policy goals. By providing the affordable health care to majority of the people who requires more amount as controlling the input cost is not possible (AAMC, 2013). Lack of doctors is one of the primary issue in providing high quality health care to the citizens especially those who are financially poor. The Supreme Court of the country passed an Act related to Health insurance as all should have Health Insurance to all the country people by the year 2014, but the at the same time government is concerned about constitutionality of these act (NYTimes, 2013).
...ntinually evolve, a certain degree of freedom must be felt by its members, bureaucracy represents and organization from which chaos has completely been eliminated. Nurse Executives, therefore, will need to encourage staff to challenge existing practice. Given the current environment, creative conflict will need to be supported in order for our continued growth.” (McGuire, 1999, p. 9) I believe that Capital Health is on a path for success. They have modernized there organization chart causing a more decentralized environment. This new atmosphere fosters empowerment of its nursing staff. This sense of ownership over their practice provides growth not only for individual nurse, but the entire profession. This positive proactive change of the organizational structure will allow the hospital to experience continued growth and development that is propelled from within.
...mplications that allow for opportunities of change. One of the presumptions is for training and staffing (Shi & Singh, 2012). With the utilization of health care improvements, the staff will need additional instructions on the performance of equipment and how to efficiently achieve the desired results. Managers or supervisors recognize the need for supplemental staffing and training to optimize patient satisfaction and quality of care. The health care administrator must also focus on changes in insurance policies and rules governing the provision of medical assistance (Shi & Singh, 2012).