Systems In Healthcare Essay Examples

Question 1

For hospitals to stay relevant and up to date with what happens around them, they ought to assimilate and move with time. The information technology world grows day in day pout. Each day has its challenges and improvements. However, it is hard for an organization to keep up with new technology as it comes out since it is an expensive exercise. The department of health and human services in America came up with guidelines that regulate the latest technologies and its importance. The hospitals have to follow the guidelines for them to comply and get certification. The paper looks at Concord Hospital and the kind of information technology it uses in its operations.
In the year 2011, Concord Hospital alongside its Medical Group achieved its first stage of the ‘Meaningful Use’ program (Concord Hospital Achieves New Goals in Using Information Technology to Improve Care, 2014). The program started in 2009 by the economic stimulus law to encourage the use of information technology by healthcare provider. Some of the requirements required the providers to convert to electronic ways of keeping its health records. Any health provider, that complied got incentives, from the organization. The hospital got $4 million for its work in implementing the methods. They came up with a standardized process for providing patients treatment, medication and discharge information. The information goes through an electronic medication and reconciliation process that lists the recent medication information. Patients can access the information through its Patient Connect portal in the hospital’s website. Medical providers can access the information about their patients through the installed health record system. The hospital sends information to other facilities or its Regional Visiting Nurse Association online canceling the time taken to deliver them manually.
Indeed, the hospital has all it takes to compete aggressively in the market. However, there are a few improvements that they may put in place to ensure faster and safer delivery. Securing the website through outsourcing for professional IT specialties will help curb hacking. Outsourcing enables the hospital to have a competitive firm to control its information and secure it. Another area to look into is providing tablets to its nurses and doctors. The tablets will save in stationery used and will help in relaying the medical information to all its staff saving time and money.

Question 2

The main purpose for a healthcare organization to adopt marketing in their system is to enable them know and sustain a set of functions that fulfill a high number of the stakeholders’ requirements (Berkowitz, 2010). It is common for stakeholders and customers to judge organizations by the way they meet their requirements. The organization that has the best marketing requirements gets the most reviews and patients. Marketing seems a vital necessity in the progress of an organization. However, it does not mean without it, and the organization will not continue; it will only difference is it will remain in the same position. One excellent marketing strategy is the use of media to advertise its services. For example, a healthcare organization like Cancer Center will be visible if people know it. The case is different for a standard outpatient hospital because people fall sick often. The use of social media helps organizations to reach a lot of people (Berkowitz, 2010). The simplicity of the media makes it favorable to a majority of the people.
Establishing a good marketing strategy requires an organization to use the basic elements to come up with a precise strategy in the end. The first strategy is establishing the targeted customers (Gandolf, 2010). The main purpose of the strategy is the efficiency. There is no point in wasting resources in the wrong areas that do not benefit the company in any way. By allocating the resources to critical tasks, the organizations save money that will be spent on boosting its revenue. In the strategy, the company should establish the beneficiaries of their products or services. The best way to come up with a starting point is looking into the current customer base. If it is a new organization, they should look into the things like the ideal clients, the common elements in them. Geography, demography, psychograph, and behaviors are categories that will help the organization identify a favorable target market.
The next step is establishing the competition (Gandolf, 2010). Success does not come from ignoring one’s competitors but by establishing the competitive issues that face others. The extra knowledge helps in coming up with a solution to a problem before it occurs. The extra step that one undertakes in being ahead of the competition adds more points in their service to people. An organization can undertake different research methods to come up with a proper analysis of their competitors. The research methods include the internet, media and ear to the ground. The last stage is discussing the data collected closely to establish the strong and weak points of organizations.
With the data on the table, it is time for the organization to carry out a proper SWOT analysis (Gandolf, 2010). Proper evaluation of the organization’s internal and external environment is vital in strategic planning process. The best SWOT analysis is done by an external body because it will look into both sides of the competition and come up with a comprehensive data. Strength and weakness comprise of the internal components of the evaluation while opportunities and threats comprise of the external. The primary focus on its initiation is the internal evaluations since they are crucial to the establishment of a competitive edge.
The fourth process becomes the first stage of planning the strategy. Most organizations fail when it comes to planning since they leave out vital information found in the previous process. SMART goals prevent such a scenario from happening (Gandolf, 2010). The plan should be specific, systematic, significant and synergistic. The next step is coming up with something motivational, measurable and meaningful. The goals should be agreed-upon, achievable, accountable and action-based by the people concerned. The goal is reasonable, rewarding, realistic and result-oriented. Final, it should be tangible, thoughtful and time-based. With these goals well outlined in the strategy, the organization has a clear plan that will place them on the front line of its competitors.
With the goals fully written down, the organization has to prepare excellent tactics and strategies to introduce its product and services to the market. The organizations should evaluate, organize and prioritize several master plan marketing strategies and tactics best suited for the initiation of the goals (Gandolf, 2010). To come up with a proper plan, there is an order that the organization should follow. From one of its goal, the organization should come up with the strategy. With the strategy in place, the organization should brainstorm effective tactics that will boost their goals. With such an order, there is no room for failure in executive each goal.
Finally, the organization should look into their marketing budget and ensure they do not outdo themselves (Gandolf, 2010). Going overboard on their budget will lead to disasters in the execution of the plans. Having a clear budget plan will assist in coming up with an appropriate way to dispatch the organizations’ resources.
Concord hospital may improve its services by coming up with a good marketing strategy that will focus on attracting out-patients. It should clearly establish its fee in the media and show how affordable their services are. Apart from that, the hospital should put good use of social media to advertise some of its services as the heart center. Participating in country wide charity walks and runs based on particular ailments will diversify their brand image.

References

Berkowitz, E. N. (2010). Essentials of Health Care Marketing. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC.
Concord Hospital Achieves New Goals in Using Information Technology to Improve Care. (2014, December 1). Retrieved from Concord Hospital: http://www.concordhospital.org/news/2014-news/concord-hospital-achieves-new-goals-in-using-information-technol/
Gandolf, S. (2010, February 18). What is A Health Care Marketing Plan? Retrieved from HealthCare Success Strategies: http://www.healthcaresuccess.com/blog/healthcare-marketing/what-is-marketing-plan.htm