Introduction
The development of healthcare systems largely depends on the ability of healthcare networks and organizations to meet the emerging needs of the population of prospective patients. While organizations perform as businesses, their ultimate goal is the health improvement of the nation, which is why healthcare organizations’ commitment to citizens’ needs is essential for both organizational performance and the health outcomes of each individual within the served population. The organization selected for the analysis of its readiness to meet US citizens’ health needs within the next decade is United Healthcare. This paper will explore the organization’s performance in terms of its preparedness to address people’s health requirements in the next decade and develop a strategic plan for improvement to facilitate effective care delivery.
Healthcare Organization’s Description
United Healthcare is a healthcare organization within the United Health Group, which serves citizens across the United States as a network of professionals in medicine and coverage. The company “offers a full range of health benefits, enabling affordable coverage, simplifying the healthcare experience, and delivering access to high-quality care” (“Form 10-K,” 2022, p. 1). United Healthcare’s mission is to make people’s lives healthier while improving the quality of healthcare for all (“Form 10-K,” 2022, p. 1). The organization strives for technological advancement, resource efficiency, and professionalism to address the needs of its clients.
United Healthcare’s Readiness to Meeting Healthcare Needs
Due to the burdensome experience of dealing with the healthcare crisis imposed by COVID-19, the current and future health needs of US citizens are preconditioned by the issues revealed by the pandemic. Firstly, as identified by experts, overall health promotion is one of the essential needs today (Harrison, 2021, para. 4). Indeed, chronic illnesses are the leading causes of mortality, disability, and comorbidity, which is why the minimization of chronic illnesses by promoting health might meet the expectations of people (Harrison, 2021, para. 4-5). In this regard, United Healthcare is prepared to meet the needs since it invests in health promotion, healthcare affordability, and staff professionalism (“Form 10-K,” 2022, pp. 1-3). Secondly, the elimination of disparities, including racial and socio-economic ones, is another pivotal health need of the US population (Harrison, 2021, para. 9). United Healthcare addresses the socio-economic disparities aspect by bridging the affordability gap and making healthcare more accessible to a larger community of patients, as well as promotes equity and inclusion (“About us,” 2020, para. 5-7). At the same time, the organization seems to be better prepared for making healthcare more affordable rather than eliminating racial disparities.
Thirdly, an important health need of US citizens in the next decade is anticipated to be the advancement of telehealth use. Indeed, experts identify telehealth expansion to be a key requirement since people tend to rely on remote health consultations for their convenience, accessibility, and speed (Harrison, 2021, para. 15). One should note that the analysis of United Healthcare’s performance allows for identifying the organization’s ability to meet this need as the most potent. Indeed, the CEO of United Healthcare states that the company specifically allocates its resources to the development of a reliable system of telehealth services as a priority of the healthcare system (Evans, 2022, para. 1-2).
Fourthly, US citizens need accessible, integrated healthcare systems with multi-professional teams working within the same environment to reduce transfer between healthcare professionals (Harrison, 2021, para. 21). In the case of United Healthcare, the commitment to developing integrated systems is not explicitly addressed; the organization facilitates quality and availability of professionals in multi-professional teams (“About us,” 2020, para. 3). Finally, value-based care is another health need that the organization is prepared to meet due to the well-developed values of “integrity, compassion, relationships, innovation and performance” (“About us,” 2020, para. 5). Thus, the organization is ready to address most of the health needs of the population with insufficient readiness to bridge racial disparities and prevent chronic illnesses.
Strategic Plan
To address the identified issues in the analyzed readiness of United Healthcare to meet the population’s health needs, the following steps of the strategic plan have been developed.
- Duration of plan implementation: one year (2023-2024);
- Facilitation of network growth;
- Diversification of cooperating stakeholders;
- Integration of multi-professional teams based on collaborating facilities to improve networking;
- Improvement of the capabilities to bridge racial disparities;
- Assessment of current performance and cultural implications capable of addressing racial inequality;
- Nurse staffing diversification by culture-sensitive human resource approaches;
- Initiation of staff development programs for training;
- Implementation of race-sensitive healthcare delivery programs;
- Analysis of patient satisfaction and health outcomes and their integration into practice.
- Development of new pathways to resource use efficiency;
- Consistent transitioning to technology use;
- Investment in research and development for sustainable services;
- Improvement of patient satisfaction via preventative care facilitation;
- Assessment of organizational performance in terms of disease prevention and health promotion;
- Initiation of a project team for developing paths for program development;
- Staff training and education;
- Continuous service feedback collection;
- Integration of evidence-based practices for community-based work;
- Assessment of strategic plan’s implementation success.
Current and Potential Barriers to the Strategic Plan Implementation
The identified aspects of the strategic plan might be problematically implemented due to such issues in the organization’s culture and performance as insufficient racial diversity and limited health promotion and disease prevention programs. Without properly diversified staff, the organization will be unable to meet the needs of patients facing racial disparities. Consequently, patient satisfaction might be low, which is why the organization should engage in feedback obtainment to ensure consistency of care quality. The company’s experience and expertise of its professional teams might help implement the strategic plan and achieve better results in meeting patient needs. One of the strengths that might help improve the company’s under-performance areas is its resource-efficient management aimed at saving costs by integrating technologies (“Removing friction,” n. d., para. 2-3). Furthermore, network growth might be facilitated by the organization’s commitment to building meaningful collaborations with partners and stakeholders.
Model to Support the Strategic Plan Implementation
The model that might apply to the process of implementing the proposed strategic plan for United Healthcare is the Strategic Alignment Model. This model’s “basic premise is that the balance between the organization’s strategy and its environmental context significantly impacts performance” (Ghonim et al., 2022, p. 200). This theory is best applicable to the case of United Healthcare because it helps align the organizational goals with the newly emerging strategic needs for complying with environmental and population needs (Ghonim et al., 2022, p. 198). When implementing the proposed strategic plan, it will be essential to ensure that the changes to the organizational performance are made gradually and with regard to the overall values and principles celebrated by the company. The Strategic Alignment Model will allow for correcting the plan implementation and completing changes along the way concerning the obtained assessment data.
Conclusion
In summation, the analysis of United Healthcare’s organizational culture and its readiness to meet citizens’ health needs has revealed that the company is overall prepared to comply with the future health requirements of the people. Overall, the organization’s well-developed values and culture allow for its successful meeting of patient needs. However, it might benefit from improving its preventative care opportunities and practices aimed at racial disparities reduction. The proposed strategic plan relies on the Strategic Alignment Model and will help the company’s value-based performance while competing with its overall goals and strategic aims.
References
About us. (2020). United Healthcare. Web.
Evans, M. (2022). UnitedHealth leans into telehealth to reduce costs, meet patient needs. The Wall Street Journal. Web.
Form 10-K. (2022). United Health Group. Web.
Ghonim, M. A., Khashaba, N. M., Al-Najaar, H. M., & Khashan, M. A. (2022). Strategic alignment and its impact on decision effectiveness: A comprehensive model. International Journal of Emerging Markets, 17(1), 198-218.
Harrison, M. (2021). 5 critical priorities for the U.S. health care system. Harvard Business Review. Web.
Removing friction and improving transparency between payers, providers and consumers. (n. d.). United Health Group. Web.