Health Organization Evaluation
Introduction
The healthcare industry is one of the industries that are complex and confusing to understand. This is because it keeps changing due to technological advancements, government legislation and other factors. Therefore, for a health organization to succeed, future planning is crucial, which can be achieved by tabling a strong strategic plan at all levels. Strategic planning involves creating and setting goals and objectives for where the organization should be in the long-term (Harrison & Association of University Programs in Health Administration, 2016). With these goals and objectives in mind, a plan to achieve them can be created. Strategic planning is important for healthcare organizations because it improves communication among all chains, develops and shares the organization’s vision, increases employee motivation and engagement, and increases team cooperation and collaboration. This paper evaluates the strategic planning in the Banner Health network. Health Organization Evaluation
Description of the Banner Health Network
The banner health network is a non-profit health system based in Phoenix, Arizona in the United States. It operates more than 20 hospitals and other specialized facilities in six different states; Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, California and Nebraska. The Banner Health Network is the largest employer not only in Arizona but also in the United States, with more than 50,000 employees (Cairns et al., 2017). The organization has grown through a series of mergers and acquisitions. For instance, the original Banner Health Network was established in 1999 through a merger between the two non-profit entities, Samaritan Health System and Lutheran Health Systems. In 2006, it acquired Thompson Medical Group in Loveland. In 2008, it partnered with Nexgen Healthcare for ambulatory EHR medical records for all its outpatient facilities. In the same year, the organization acquired Arizona Medical Clinic. In 2014, it acquired Casa Grande Medical Center. In the same year, it also launched a merger with the University of Arizona Health Network which was approved in 2016. In 2016 also, the organization acquired Urgent Care Extra’s 32 Arizona urgent care facility (Stutz, 2013). Currently, the organization offers several services including emergency and hospital care, home care, labs, primary care, hospice, outpatient surgery and rehabilitation services. As a leading non-profit organization in the United States, Banner health Network has been committed to its mission of “making health care easier, so life can be better” by paying more attention to offering healthcare services to communities instead of profits. The profit earned by the organization is reinvested into technologies, new physician services, paying salaries to its employees and maintaining the existing facilities. Health Organization Evaluation
Banner’s Overall Readiness
Banner Health Network is slowly adopting a value-based reimbursement model to be able to meet all the healthcare needs of its clients in future. The value-based reimbursement model is the payment model for medical services that are slowly replacing the traditional fee for service model. This model can cut the cost of the increasing healthcare costs by switching from payment for quantity to pay for quality (Kuhn & Lehn, 2015). It is an effective model when it comes to capping costs and spreading financial risks among providers while encouraging disease prevention, coordination of care, and better management of chronic conditions. This model rewards value rather than volume and moves a considerable percentage of clinical and financial risks from payers to providers, hence lessening the costs, increasing efficiency and improving the quality of care. According to NASEM (2018), health systems will be forced to shift from volume to value to minimize health costs and achieve patient-centred care. For Banner Health Network, the adoption of a value-based reimbursement model has been propelled the need to minimize healthcare costs, improve healthcare outcomes and sustainability. Health Organization Evaluation
The cost of healthcare has been rapidly increasing and is expected to continue increasing to a level where most of the low-income citizens will not be able to pay. Therefore, healthcare organizations will be expected to come up with strategies of delivering timely, reliable, timely, safe and consistent care amid this challenge. As a commitment to its mission of “making health care easier, so life can be better”, Banner health Network has adopted the value-based reimbursement model that will enable the organization to reduce waste, streamline its processes to remain efficient and reap financial benefits while charging low for healthcare services (Kuhn & Lehn, 2015).
A Strategic Plan to Address Banner Health Network Issues
Banner Health Network has drafted a strategic plan that addresses its strategic growth, nurse staffing, resource management and patient satisfaction. With the increasing healthcare needs, Banner Health Network has embarked on creating new facilities to respond to the emerging and future health care needs of Americans. The organization has a plan of constructing more comprehensive medical centers to offer convenient care that is accessible to both patients and families. This has come with the realization that that most of the regions are growing fast and constructing more medical centers will enable the organization to meet the health needs of its members in future (Kuhn & Lehn, 2015).
Regarding nurse staffing, the organization has implemented a staffing approach that boosts the efficiency of healthcare service delivery. Banner’s Health Network management recognizes the critical role of its nursing staff in enhancing the organization’s operations and improving patient outcomes. The approach considers nurses as the backbone of patient-centred care. The organization acknowledges its priceless role in achieving the best possible and safest care for all patients. As a result, the organization has worked hard to maintain a nurse to patient ratio that is favorable to minimize incidences of nurse burnouts, work-related stress and other adverse effects on patients.
To promote patient satisfaction, the organization has implemented different communication channels through which patients can share their healthcare service-related experiences. For instance, the organization has implemented a digital feedback system where patients can share their experiences. The organization has also implemented telemedicine to allow patients to interact with physicians remotely (Kuhn & Lehn, 2015). These and other technologies have promoted patient satisfaction by leveraging the strategies of interpersonal communication rather than efficiency only. The organization’s resource management team is committed to providing cost-effective care that will be achieved through healthcare transformations such as enhanced services for reduced costs.
Potential Organizational Culture to Affect Banner’s Strategic Plan
As a non-profit organization, Banner health Organization believes that its strength and capability to achieve its mission of “making health care easier, so life can be better” lies in the hands of its leaders. This organization culture has seen staff members isolated from some of the important organization decisions touching on them, an approach that has limited the implementation of the strategic plan (Cairns et al., 2017). This culture is expected to influence the organization’s daily activities in an unacceptable manner depending on the operating environment of the organization. As Banner Health network implements its strategic plan, the organization needs to involve all its staff members so that they can be part of the process and minimize resistance in the implementation process.
A Model to Support Banner’s Strategic Plan Implementation
The best model to support the implementation of Banner’s strategic plan is the goal-based strategic planning model. Also known as the issue-based strategic planning model, this is a strategic planning model that begins with a SWOT analysis or the assessment of both the external and internal forces affecting an organization. This is followed by the identification of goals that can be used to prioritize objectives, design the mission, and establishment of action plans, creating a strategic plan and developing an annual operating plan (Marley & Swait, 2017). The goal-based strategic planning model is the best in the case of Banner Health Network because it will focus on the major challenges and opportunities facing the organization. Through this model, the organization will be able to identify its goals along with the strategies to achieve them and the actions to attain them as well as those responsible for the execution and resource management. Health Organization Evaluation
Conclusion
Although Banner Health Network is still one of the largest health systems in the United States when it comes to providing quality and cost-effective healthcare services, it will need to keep making changes in its operation strategies to remain at the top. One of the changes identified is the shift from performance-based reimbursement to value-based reimbursement. This change has enabled the organization to minimize its healthcare costs and improved health outcomes. Also, through continuous improvements in nurse staffing, resource management and patient satisfaction, the organization has been able to remain at the top.
References
Cairns, C. B., Bollinger, K., & Garcia, J. G. (2017). A transformative approach to academic medicine: the partnership between the University of Arizona and Banner Health. Academic Medicine, 92(1), 20-22.
Harrison, J. P., & Association of University Programs in Health Administration. (2016). Essentials of strategic planning in healthcare (Vol. 1). Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press.
Kuhn, B., & Lehn, C. (2015). Value-based reimbursement: the banner health network experience. Frontiers of health services management, 32(2), 17-31.
Marley, A. A., & Swait, J. (2017). Goal-based models for discrete choice analysis. Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, 101, 72-88.
Stutz, L. (2013). The Evolution of Banner Health’s Case Management Program. Professional case management, 18(3), 138-141.