Past analyses have indicated that all stakeholders (patients, health system administrators, providers) participate in decision-making in health organizations. These stakeholders operate within many contexts such as health systems settings and clinical care settings. Each of the stakeholders has to play very important role in decision making (Sullivan, 2002).
Health care decisions are made after incorporating the needs and demands of different stakeholders.
Different stakeholders influence decision making in different ways. Consumers are the main stakeholders whose consideration should be considered. Quality has been the major concern of most consumers in any business and hence the health industry is not exceptional. The health industry has faced intense pressure from the consumer on the quality of the products been offered. Decisions made should incorporate quality controls and quality improvements. Health care consumers are aware of the best they must get from health care institutions hence top management should address aspects of service that consumers appreciate. Strategies should be put in place to capture the minds, hearts and perceptions of the consumers are towards the products been offered. The quality of health care that an organization delivers is greatly influenced by the ability of the organization to meet the demands of the customers in a very convenient way. It is therefore imperative for health care institutions to ensure that services aspects of health care are in line with the objectives and goals of the organization (Robinson, 2001).
Providers must monitor the health care operations in the health institutions. The health care industry incurs a lot of resources, especially in the industrialized nations. Expenses have increased due to poor economic growth in most nations hence economic and political pressures for most governments which are the providers to most health care institutions. Government has a duty of ensuring that resources are allocated in a very efficient and effective way to achieve efficacy in health care institutions. The providers have the primary role of ensuring that all consumers get quality services, especially during prenatal care. The decisions made depend entirely on the investments made by the providers in the institution
Prenatal programs are facing a lot of psychological problems such as poor understanding of the tests those pregnant mothers should undergo. This leads to patient care errors hence endangering the life of the unborn. Managers can influence the decisions to be made to curb these issues through the number of resources that are to be used in prenatal programs. Resources are required to curb future challenges that might arise in clinical practices. Research should also be carried out to understand the conditions that necessitate good living conditions for pregnant mothers and good delivery to avoid endangering the life of newborn babies (Sullivan, 2002).
Health quality organizations have a lot of impact on the decisions to be made by any health care institution. The work of health care institutions is to ensure that consumers get quality goods and services. The decisions to be made should focus on the quality of services been offered e.g. during prenatal care. The amount of investment to be made depends on the quality of prenatal care that the institution offers. It also ensures that research studies are conducted by the institution (Clinton, 2000)
Policymakers influence decisions to be made in health care institution by adopting strategies that enhance efficacy in the organization to eliminate patient care errors.
All the stakeholders play a role in ensuring that the decisions made enhances efficiency and high quality services been offered by the health care institution (Robinson, 2001).
Reference List
- Robinson, J. (2001). Health Care Management. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2622–2628.
- Sullivan, L. (2002). Health Care Expenditures. Health Affairs. 9–18.
- Clinton, B (2000). The Clinton health care plan.250-360.