Organization
The organization chosen is AtlantiCare which has numerous facilities in New Jersey. The organization is one of the largest providers of healthcare in the area with more than 4,000 hardworking and skilled employees working at over 50 locations. The company’s success has earned regular awards for excellent customer service and has grown to 10 separate units within a short period due to the provision of quality healthcare. This success has come from a fully implemented Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) program started in the 90s to cope with increasing law suits against the company due to varying quality of healthcare. (AtlantiCare, 2009)
Benefits of Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI)
One of the basic philosophies behind the CQI approach is to organize the work around the healthcare service. With this philosophy the problem starts with the patient, goes to the people closest to the patient and then reaches higher management. This way when a patient has a need, the service can respond without having to go through a huge bureaucracy. The benefit of such an approach is that a team looks after a patient thus taking responsibility for quality. Previously individuals were held accountable even if they weren’t directly involved in the heath care of that patient. (Banham, 1993).
Now with this approach, AtlantiCity is reaping rewards in terms of a higher return customer ratio. This means that more patients are registering at the facility hence a higher chunk of revenue is being generated. Everybody knows that reputation is a very flexible asset of an organization. If a hospital has a good reputation, more patients want to enroll its services and more skilled professionals want to join the boundaries a successful organization. This again is a sign of a continuously improving hospital. On the other hand, if the reputation falls, a completely opposite picture builds up with two-fold increase in costs. (Larson & Muller, (2002)
A major problem for the healthcare facilities is the increasing number of law suits due to errors made in treating a patient. A CQI approach has cut down the cost of errors by more than 50%. This means that lower costs are being incurred in treating patients, as well as legal costs are also decreasing. Thus the hospital shows a more successful outlook, financially and physically. (AtlantiCare, 2009)
Diversity
AtlantiCity did not have a formal diversity dealing campaign mainly because they did not feel that their workforce was diverse. From the success of the company it can be seen that this might have been the correct decision.
However when the organization talks about working in teams, there is bound to be some differences that will come out even in the best company. These differences need not be based on race, but only the lifestyles and the family status. For such small differences, the organization should have a guideline in place for team work. This guideline should include how a team will be formed, who will be the team leader and what will be the responsibilities of each member.
Since a human life is at stake in each case, this team needs to be informal but the team leader should be strong so that wherever fast and hard decisions need to be made, the leader would do the right thing. Thus it is imperative that someone in higher position must form the team and assign the role of a team leader. These quality teams will then work and deliver quality service best if they are left alone from top management intrusion. (Banham, 1993).
Works Cited
AtlantiCare. About Us. Web.
Banham, R. TQM helps hospitals improve care. Gale Group. (1993). Web.
Griffith, J. R., White, K. R., & Bernd, D. L. (2005). The Revolution in Hospital Management. Journal of Healthcare Management. Chicago. Vol. 50, Iss. 3.
Larson, J. S. & Muller, A. (2002). Managing the Quality of Healthcare. Journal of Health and Human Services Administration. Harrisburg. Vol. 25, Iss. 3/4; p. 261.
Natarajan, R. (2006). Transferring best practices to healthcare: opportunities and challenges. The TQM Magazine. Bedford. Vol. 18, Iss. 6; p. 572.
Nauert, R. C. (2000). The new millennium: Health care evolution in the 21st century. Journal of Health Care Finance. New York. Vol. 26, Iss. 3.