Introduction
Goal setting is fundamental to any organizational management in general, and healthcare providers are no exception. The classifications of goals or objectives vary across studies, based on the structural, contextual, temporal, and functional characteristics. For the purposes of this assignment, the aim is to discuss the financial, legal, risk, and quality management goals of the Stevens District Hospital. The following summary is based on the existing theoretical framework of goal setting in healthcare as well as the vision, mission, and data entries from the first part of the worksheet. It examines the essence of the goal setting for Stevens District Hospital for all three areas and comments on the potential measurement tools of success or failure.
Financial or Economic Goal
Stevens District Hospital is a non-profit healthcare facility that intends to become a provider of choice for patients with a variety of queries. Its mission is to improve health by providing high-quality profit, and, as a non-profit, it is not aimed at generating revenue (Wang, Wang & McLeod, 2018). Thus, the hospital’s economic goal is to become self-sustainable, with the paid programs implemented in it bringing it the amount of profit sufficient to pay the staff members, rent for the building, and running costs. Within the currently outlined timeframe, these improvements are to be finished by the end of 2021.
With regards to measurements, the hospital’s goal is to generate more money than is required to keep it afloat. Hierarchically speaking, the economic goals of the hospital exist towards the top of the priority list. Although at first glance, the profit margins are not directly tied to the hospital’s intent of providing high-quality healthcare for a variety of issues, this aim is reliant on having a sufficient amount of funds. The hospital has the potential to qualify for a variety of governmental healthcare-related grants and acquire sponsorships to aid it in the achievement of this goal. The relevant milestones include qualifying for governmental support and entering partnerships with insurance companies. Other steps to consider are regular inventories and demand analysis.
Legal or Regulatory Goal
In terms of laws and regulations, the Stevens District Hospital aims to provide high-standard healthcare in accordance with the local community guidelines and rules. It is essential for hospitals to ensure all their employees are properly licensed to practice. Other legal areas healthcare managers must keep an eye on include management of the restricted substances, compliance with ethical guidelines, and employment law for nursing staff (Carraro et al., 2016). Considering the existing problem of understaffing in nursing, there is always room for an unfortunate risk of negligence that might result in serious harm being done to the patient.
To ensure and measure the achievement of said goals, the hospital’s management team must conduct detailed background research on the candidates during the recruitment process. For the physicians and nurses to be proven eligible, their qualifications must be up to due standard, and they can’t have significant violations of the code of ethics in the past. To avoid the breach of procedure in relation to the restricted substances, regular inventory is required. Ultimately, by achieving full compliance with the existing laws and regulations, the Stevens District Hospital will be able to achieve measurable success in the area of legal goals.
The Risk or Quality Management Goal
The purpose of quality management in healthcare providers is to establish and maintain a system that ensures that healthcare services are up to the industry standard. Modern medical advancements must be incorporated into daily practices. It is specified in the hospital’s mission and vision that it provides a general range of acute care services, including medical/surgical, rehab, and emergency care. Widespread monitoring and quality control at all stages within these services are the key risk management and quality control goals for the Stevens District Hospital. These strategies can be put in place via the introduction of regular customer surveys and a digital rating system.
It is admittedly difficult to manage the quality control frameworks utilized in the healthcare industry due to both its structural complexity and variations between different cases. The existing research suggests that the most effective way to measure quality would be through permanent and multi-layered performance assessment (Ogbeiwi, 2018). Total quality management initiatives that prioritize continuity have been widely accepted as the industry norm due to the importance of routing in healthcare provision. On a similar note, the re-structuring of the timetable for nurses and the use of the Goal Attainment Scaling (Ogbeiwi, 2018) improved the total quality of performance in healthcare institutions.
In terms of measurability, whether Stephens District Hospital is successful in managing its quality and risks is easy to determine. Firstly, the managers can review the hospital’s performance based on the duration the patients with different diagnoses stay hospitalized (Weheba, Cure & Toy, 2019). Other metrics of a similar variety include the number of patients that get sent home after the first consultation, the number of patients that require a second consultation, and so on. Risk management might be assessed based on the number of emergency situations that transpire due to the potential failures of the internal management and staff performance. The reduction of patient falls by 20% is a more particular example of quality improvement objectives. To achieve it, Stevens District Hospital should install railings for all its stairs and increase the number of nurses available.
References
Carraro, E., Bonetta, S., Bertino, C., Lorenzi, E., Bonetta, S., & Gilli, G. (2016). Hospital effluents management: Chemical, physical, microbiological risks and legislation in different countries. Journal Of Environmental Management, 168, 185-199. Web.
Ogbeiwi, O. (2018). General concepts of goals and goal-setting in healthcare: A narrative review. Journal Of Management & Organization, 1-18. Web.
Wang, T., Wang, Y., & McLeod, A. (2018). Do health information technology investments impact hospital financial performance and productivity?. International Journal Of Accounting Information Systems, 28, 1-13. Web.
Weheba, G., Cure, L., & Toy, S. (2018). Perceived dimensions of healthcare quality in published research. International Journal Of Healthcare Management, 13(sup1), 357-364. Web.