Discussion of Letter to the CEO Case Study Essay

Background

In healthcare settings, managers have a moral and legal obligation to ensure patients get high-quality patient care. Healthcare managers perform a variety of tasks that include directing and coordinating other departments; they also handle the needs of the medical team and the healthcare business operations (Fatima et al., 2018). According to Parand et al. (2014), healthcare managers play a prominent and essential role in patient safety and quality care. Therefore, this paper will discuss the manager’s role and accountability in offering patient care, identify specific problems and their causes in patient care delivery, and recommend the various actions healthcare managers and the CEO can take to improve patient care.

Roles of the Manager from the Patient’s Perspective

From a patient’s perspective, the healthcare manager’s responsibilities include ensuring good communication between the medical team and the patient, fostering understanding between the two parties. They are also responsible for patient safety and making sure that patients are informed on the available helpful volunteers such as pastoral services or social services and how they can make use of them. In addition, they provide a follow-up to the patient to make sure they are thoroughly attended to (Buchbinder et al., 2019). Mangers mainly focus on food service delivery to patients since some lack appetite, making it essential to improve the quality of food and have it delivered on time and to the right persons. The manager should also ensure that patients are thoroughly educated and informed on their condition and that they are treated with the utmost respect.

Roles of the Manager from the Physician’s Perspective

From a physician’s perspective, the healthcare manager should influence the hospital’s patient safety goal and issue a powerful message of safety commitment. They should encourage a hospital culture that is based on norms concerning multidisciplinary cooperation. They are required to communicate with departmental heads and medical staff members and work hand in hand with other healthcare professionals to upgrade quality and efficiency in providing healthcare services. They also have to create work and shift schedules for other administrators and direct care providers.

Roles of the Manager from Manager’s Perspective

The manager’s roles include complying with new laws, regulations, and changes to ensure the healthcare facility adheres to those regulations. They represent the healthcare facility at governing board or investor meetings, and they manage the healthcare facility and finances such as patient fees, billing, and costs. They order and receive supplies, handle staff payroll, benefits, retirement, and vacation, mediate between day-to-day activities, goals, and strategies (White & Griffith, 2010). In addition, they are tasked with formating, preparing, and summarizing information for staff consumption.

Specific Problems in Patient’s Care and their Causes

According to the presented case, problems with patient care include a cardiologist promising to attend the cardiac catheterization and failing to show up for the session. In addition, the anesthesiologist was unable to follow up on the patient’s question, and the surgical resident failed to indicate an allergy alert to the tape used before surgery but instead left it to the patient’s wife, an act considered unprofessional (Buchbinder et al., 2019). Other problems with patient care include the medical staff’s inability to provide comfort to the patient and asking the patient to fill in an informed consent form that a surgical resident had not filled. In addition, the hospital staff also failed to observe hygiene by failing to wash their hands (Buchbinder et al., 2019). The causes of these problems include, poor communication practices and probable negligence by the employees by failing to act accordingly to procedures and policies in practice.

Actions the Manager could take to Improve the Healthcare Situation

The healthcare manager can incorporate various policies and perform a follow-up of action to improve patient care situations. For example, managers can make a policy that ensures that the medical team properly informs a patient of their condition and encourage question-answer sessions to avoid safety hazards, thus improving safety behavior in healthcare (White & Griffith, 2010). Concerning poor hospital hygiene, the manager can ensure sanitizers, sinks, and soaps are placed at designated stations within the facility and implement laws that stress hygiene. They should also make sure that the hospital undergoes maintenance to ensure that patients’ rooms and equipment are all in good condition (Buchbinder et al., 2019). In addition, the manager should ensure proper documentation of medication administered to patients to prevent medication errors and make arrangements to have the medical and auxiliary staff provided with what they need to maintain patient safety.

The Course of Action the CEO can take and Recommendations

The CEO can investigate whether patient problems are acute or chronic, organization-wide or isolated, before discussing the improvements to be made. The recommendations include coming up with new ideas and policies that would help improve the safety of the patients and the quality of services provided. For example, the CEO should write back to the patient and his wife, thanking them for the insight they offered and assure them that their information will be used to improve patient care.

Overcoming Limitations and Justification of the Case with Theory

To overcome limitations within the case, the task team internal consultation will have to integrate and implement quality-focused programs in the healthcare setting, thus enhancing patient safety. Recently, the authentic leadership theory has acquired empirical support in nursing literature and management and can be used as a guide for leaders and researchers to determine the process by which staff behaviors and attitudes are influenced (Alilyyani et al., 2018). In summary, healthcare managers should strive to upgrade care and ensure a high quality of patient care by performing several responsibilities, including directing, planning, and coordinating other departments, groups, and practitioners.

References

Alilyyani, B., Wong, C. A., & Cummings, G. (2018). Antecedents, mediators, and outcomes of authentic leadership in healthcare: A systematic review. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 83, 34-64.

Buchbinder, S. B., Shanks, N. H., & Kite, B. J. (2019). Introduction to health care management. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Fatima, T., Malik, S. A., & Shabbir, A. (2018). Hospital healthcare service quality, patient satisfaction, and loyalty.International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 35(6), 1195-1214.

Parand, A., Dopson, S., Renz, A., & Vincent, C. (2014). The role of hospital managers in quality and patient safety: A systematic review.BMJ Open, 4(9), e005055-e005055.

White, K. R., & Griffith, J. R. (2010). The well-managed healthcare organization (9^th ed.). Health Administration Press.