The question regarding whether Health care organizations in general are concerned with competitive advantage or are content operating as “Sole sources”, often within niche markets should be of extreme importance given the value that quality service in this sector adds to community as a whole.
It is for this reason that the discussion presented in this paper will attempt to provide information to show that Health care organizations are actively improving service delivery and gaining competitive advantage.
To justify this position, the case of the health care sector in Taiwan after the inception of the National Health Insurance Scheme in 1995. Following the implementation of this scheme there has been marked increase in competitiveness in the health sector in the country.
The population of the country has also become increasingly aware of the importance of quality service and as such there has been an increase in demand for quality services. The policy in place requires that health care coverage follows a plan which sub divides the region into sub regions with an aim to provide equal coverage and improve living standards.
This has led to a scenario where selection of appropriate locations involves the use of sensitivity analysis and analytic hierarchy to decide on the most suitable site for a health care center. Thus, it appears reasonable to justify the stance in favor of health care organizations and efforts to improve competitive advantage (Wu, Lin & Chen, 2007).
Further evidence that suggests the truth of this position is the evidence of increased co-operation between competing health care entities with a view to improving the quality of service offered. This trend that has been practiced in corporate commercial circles during the past 20 years or so has also taken root in health care sectors in some western countries.
More specifically this co-operation is witnessed in centralization of purchase units and the establishment of inter-trust units that assist in formulation of medical protocols that define spheres of operation. This has not eliminated competition within the sector but instead has created a level playing field for participants within the sector.
This ultimately leads to improvement in service delivery while considering means to accommodate as much sharing of resources as possible. It should be noted that the main driver behind these initiatives is the implementation of new legislation and would infer a need to perform periodic reviews to assess progress and handle new developments (Barretta, 2008).
Due to the brevity of the paper the above examples should be adequate to justify the stance in favor of the Health Care sector. However, it would be unfair to ignore other issues within the sector that may initially contribute to this perception.
One such issue lies in the unfair practice of Risk selection that is practiced within the Health Insurance industry. This practice aimed at reducing cost of premiums is beneficial to the companies but marginalizes the sectors or society considered to be risky thus raising cost of health care for specific groups (Lehmann & Zweifel, 2004).
Discussion Forum 1.2
Health care administration involves planning, coordination and supervision of facilities providing medical services. Depending on the size of the facility this task often quite daunting and can have varied effects on the overall well being of the facility. Specialist administrators often deal with maintaining efficiency in specific departments within the facility and are likely to benefit greatly from Computer Supported Collaborative Learning technology (CSCL).
This mode of learning assumes that the users communicate through discussion boards. Learning takes place through argumentative discourse with a view to gaining knowledge on the subject area. This mode of learning can be useful in assisting administrators reach the most appropriate conclusions with regards to their facilities and needs.
Given that medical facilities are dispersed across the country this technology can be very helpful in making sure that information is disseminated as quickly as possible to improve overall efficiency (Weinberger & Fischer, 2006).
The administrative personnel involved in the health care industry work in an very team oriented environment and as such the use of information systems that reflect this is very essential (Scandurra, Hagglund & Koch, 2008). Some of the benefits that can be obtained from the use of such a system include the injection of innovative thinking, improvements in cooperation due to increases in competence and improvements in coordination of tasks.
Information systems are capable of providing more than a competitive advantage as a strategic tool. In today’s global business environment, this information and the collaboration with competitors and has proven to be even more effective in improving an organizations competitive position. This example is illustrated in the case of seven hospitals competing in Dayton, Ohio, that formed a health network.
This approach is also effective in ensuring that alongside making profit the health care institution meets the greater social good. The approach of competition and collaboration suggests argument which leads to compromise on the best solution which by extension is best for business (Ferratt, Lederer, Hall & Krella, 1996).
In the case of the hospitals in Ohio this approach was very useful in lowering the rising costs of health care while ensuring that quality of service was maintained as a result of increased access to information.
The physicians within any of these hospitals gained access to full patient data from all seven locations thus making it easier and cheaper to diagnose and treat various ailments. In addition purchasing costs were also significantly reduced (Ferratt, Lederer, Hall & Krella, 1996). These are just a few of the benefits that could be obtained using collaborative information technology systems in health care.
References
Barreta, A. (2008). The Functioning of Co-opetition in the Health Care Sector: An Explorative Analysis. Scand. J. Mgmt., 42, 209-220.
Ferratt, T., W., Lederer, A. L., Hall, S. R., & Krella, J.M. (1996). Swords and Plowshares: Information Technology for Collaborative Advantage. Information & Management, 30, 131-142.
Lehmann, H., & Zweifel, P. (2004). Innovation and Risk Selection in Deregulated Social Health Insurance. Journal of Health Economics, 23, 997-1012.
Scandurra, I., Hagglund, M., & Koch, S. (2008). From User Needs to System Specifications: Multi Disciplinary Thematic Seminars as a Collaborative Design Method for Developing Health Information Systems. Journal of Biomedical Informatics, 41, 557-569.
Weinberger, A., & Fischer, F. (2006). A Framework to Analyze Argumentative Knowledge Construction in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning. Computers & Education, 46, 71-95.
Wu, C., Lin, C., & Chen, H. (2007). Optimal Selection of Location for Taiwanese Hospitals to Ensure Competitive Advantage by Using Analytical Hierarchy Process and Sensitivity Analysis. Building and Environment, 42, 1431-1444.