Executive Summary
Mater Health is a part of a Catholic non-profit organization with four main ministries focused on health, education, research, and fundraising. Mater operates in a stable and unique political and policy environment since it belongs to a non-governmental organization category. Organizational design and coordination are well-established, and they are of paramount importance for Mater since its four ministries are interdependent and complementary to each other. Core leadership is based on servant leadership practices, where teamwork is deeply rooted in interprofessional collaboration and cooperation. Mater effectively uses its financial resources within its means by gaining revenue mainly through service fees and fundraising. Since it is a non-profit, Mater does not seek to maximize net income but rather allocates them to further its mission and values through community benefit contributions. The organization has a positive attitude towards technology, which is exemplified by its quick adoption of telehealth frameworks of care.
Introduction
It is important to note that a healthcare manager needs to be able to analyze a healthcare organization in terms of how well it is meeting its stated mission and objectives. The given case assessment is done on Mater’s business environment in order to identify areas of strengths and weaknesses. Mater’s mission: “We serve together to bring God’s mercy to our communities through compassionate, transforming, healing ministries” (Mater, 2020, p. 6). The organization’s values include striving for excellence, acting with integrity and compassion, and honoring and promoting human life with dignity (Mater, 2020). Thus, Mater strongly believes in enabling access to the highest-quality healthcare for all (Mater, 2020). The underlying purpose of the given case study is to deliver better value to all stakeholders by applying the principles of best practice leadership, team-building, and organizational design in a healthcare setting. The emphasis will be put on extensive analysis of the political and policy environment, organizational design and coordination, leadership and teamwork, financial resource utilization, and attitude to and utilization of technology with subsequent recommendations.
Political and Policy Environment
The business object of the study is a Catholic and non-profit Mercy Partner ministry, which has a network of large healthcare businesses, health centers, and hospitals. Mater was initially established in 1906, but it has grown massively since then (Mater, 2020). In order to properly analyze the external political and policy background in which the organization is operating in, it is vital to understand the healthcare policies of the Australian government. It is stated that “Australia’s health system is complex — and so are its funding arrangements. It is funded by: all levels of government, non-government organizations, private health insurers, and individuals when they pay out-of-pocket costs” (Australian Government, Department of Health and Aged Care, 2019, para. 36). In other words, Mater operates in a unique healthcare policy environment since it is not a part of the nation’s Medicare system, but it does not belong with for-profit private insurance companies either.
The Australian healthcare system is primarily funded by the Australian Government and state governments. However, the latter two funds almost 70% of healthcare costs, and around 6% is allocated to non-government organizations, such as Mater (Australian Government, Department of Health and Aged Care, 2019). The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a major government response, which created the current political and policy environment. For instance, “the Mater Health team modeled a future state of how we would open additional intensive care and patient beds to care for COVID-19 patients, as well as our patients who did not have COVID-19” (Mater, 2020, p. 17). The key objectives of the policies were to increase access to vaccines, manage risk, manage demand, minimize mortality, and reduce the number of infected (Australian Government, Department of Health and Aged Care, 2019). Thus, there are no direct external pressures or threats coming from the policies or politics aimed at Mater.
Organizational Design and Coordination
Mater’s organizational design is centered around collaboration and commitment to excellence. The goal of the centered non-profit is to advance healthcare delivered to people with the highest quality possible. The organization is comprised of four major branches, which include Mater Health, Mater Research, Mater Education, and Mater Foundation (Mater, 2020). All four ministries operate under a unified Mater Group. Mater Health is the most critical provider of healthcare to the communities and patients. The coordination is observed within the organization, where one branch enhances the effectiveness of another. For example, “in collaboration with Mater Research and Mater Education, we strive to develop and deliver improved patient outcomes and utilize advanced, innovative approaches for the management of illness and disease” (Mater, 2020, p. 6). In other words, one can see how each ministry complements the group’s mission and values to bring high-quality healthcare to the communities it serves.
In the case of coordination and design, it is important to note that the Mater Foundation is a primary unit of raising funds for all the spending. Mater Education mainly focuses on educating and training professional practicing clinicians. Mater Research collaborates internationally to advance research in areas of interest for Mater Health and Mater Education. Such a collaborative framework is critical “to provide tailored guideline-based care to patients with in-built prompts for triggering referrals across health facilities as needed … to ensure coordinated care within and across facilities” (Patel et al., 2020, p. 4). Lastly, Mater Health is a cornerstone of the group, which is directly responsible for delivering the organizational promise manifested in its vision and mission as well as values.
Leadership and Teamwork
Mater is governed and led by the Mater Executive team and Mater Board of Directors, with a detailed overview of each leader shown in Figure 1 below. The organization’s leadership is primarily done through the framework of servant leadership. It is stated that servant leadership “can contribute to the delivery of patient-centered, high-value care. Servant leadership may provide the means to engage and develop employees to become successful … leaders in healthcare organizations” (Aij and Rapsaniotis, 2017, p. 1). In other words, the approach is adherent to the key mission and purpose of the organization. In order to promote a desire to serve among the workers, the leaders actively serve the needs of their employees.
When it comes to teamwork, the core dynamic can be observed in the response of Mater to the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization reports that “the COVID-19 pandemic prompted a swift redesign of Mater’s Emergency Department (ED) and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) operations. The two departments are at the forefront of our response to COVID-19” (Mater, 2020, p. 19). Interprofessional collaboration is a key emphasis of teamwork design in Mater. It is stated that “the coordination and delivery of safe, high-quality care demand reliable teamwork and collaboration within, as well as across, organizational, disciplinary, technical, and cultural boundaries” (Rosen et al., 2018, p. 433). Therefore, it is evident that Mater is following the best team-building and leadership practices in the form of an interdisciplinary framework to enhance its quality of care, as exemplified by the provided redesign measure.
Financial Resource Utilisation
Financial performance and resource utilization are critical for all types of organizations, including non-profit ones, such as Mater. A detailed overview of Mater’s financial performance for the year 2020 can be accessed in Figure 2 below. One can see that Mater’s revenue is primarily comprised of funding and service fees, which are $828,993,812 and $42,750,691 for health services fees and funding and grant funding, respectively (Mater, 2020). Sales of goods and services and other revenue sources provide a relatively insubstantial amount of income. The expenditures mainly go toward labor costs, such as salaries for healthcare professionals. It should be noted that “the average healthcare salary in Australia is $101,490 per year or $52.05 per hour. Entry-level positions start at $72,500 per year, while most experienced workers make up to $149,579” (Talent, 2022, para. 1). Thus, it is evident that providing high-quality healthcare requires a significant allocation of money towards wages and labor expenses.
On the basis of the figure provided below, the net surplus or deficit can be determined. For the year 2020, the value was $18,525,690, which means that Mater is performing financially well (Mater, 2020). The organization operates within its means and does not exceed expenditures above the resources it has. The net surplus is not as critical of a metric for Mater because it is a non-profit organization, and its performance mandates the use of its resources for its key purpose rather than increasing profits. In addition, Mater contributes heavily to four core areas, including refugee healthcare, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander healthcare, homeless healthcare, and healthcare for the poor (Mater, 2020). A detailed allocation of its available resources for such specific endeavors can be seen in Figure 3 below.
Attitude to and Utilisation of Technology
It is important to note that Mater has a positive attitude to the utilization of technology, which is why it values innovative approaches. The organization states that “the pandemic has catapulted the role of telehealth … with remote healthcare helping to minimize the risk of COVID-19 … Mater is the largest provider of telehealth services to public outpatients” (Mater, 2020, p. 19). In other words, as soon as the conditions required an innovative and technologically creative method of healthcare delivery, Mater quickly adopted telehealth technologies and methods to continue serving its communities. It was found that “telehealth is a viable option for addressing … healthcare needs as it enables more effective care management, provides expanded access to services, and fosters integrating primary and mental healthcare services” (Myers, 2019, p. 233). In other words, there is a clear focus and readiness to be more innovative and advanced, which is why Mater Research was established.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the four main ministries focused on health, education, research, and fundraising comprise Mater, which is a Catholic non-profit organization. Firstly, Mater has a positive attitude towards technology, which can be seen in its quick adoption of telehealth frameworks of care. Secondly, the organization allocates net surplus to further its mission and values through community benefit contributions, and it does not seek to maximize net income since it is a non-profit. Therefore, the financial performance analysis shows that Mater effectively uses its resources within its means by gaining revenue mainly through service fees and fundraising. Thirdly, the core teamwork efforts are deeply rooted in interprofessional collaboration and cooperation, whereas leadership is based on servant leadership practices. Fourthly, the overall organizational design and coordination are of paramount importance for Mater since its four ministries are interdependent and complementary to each other. Fifthly. Mater operates in a stable and unique political and policy environment since it belongs to a non-governmental organization category.
Recommendations
For the most part, Mater is an exemplary organization which excels in many aspects by adhering to its mission, vision, goals, and values. However, some improvements and recommendations can be made to further enhance its ability to serve the communities. The first and major recommendation for Mater would be to focus on more extensive development of telehealth services with a fee in order to generate more revenue. The organization heavily contributes to the homeless, poor, and refugees, but they can still benefit from telehealth due to its increased accessibility compared to traditional means. In other words, Mater should not be excessively reliant on funding and donation, and it needs to be more self-sustainable and self-sufficient in terms of resources. A greater portion of its revenue should be coming from health services using telehealth. The latter can be set up in a way in which costs do not increase with increased use and service consumption.
The second key recommendation would be to consider a form of collaboration with the state and federal government’s Medicare. These two parties alone fund almost 70% of all Medicare services, which is why working with state and federal governments can generate an influx of money significantly. Mater should use its exceptional and excellent record of being able to achieve its mission and vision in the past years. It should additionally leverage its COVID-19 response during negotiations. Becoming a potential healthcare provider for Medicare while remaining as a non-profit, non-governmental institution could help in increasing the reach of its high-quality services.
Reference List
Aij, K. H., and Rapsaniotis, S. (2017) ‘Leadership requirements for Lean versus servant leadership in health care: a systematic review of the literature’, Journal of Healthcare Leadership, 9, pp. 1-14. Web.
Australian Government, Department of Health and Aged Care (2019) The Australian health system. Web.
Mater. (2020) Mater annual report. Web.
Myers, C. R. (2019) ‘Using telehealth to remediate rural mental health and healthcare disparities’, Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 40(3), pp. 233-239. Web.
Patel, S. A. et al. (2020) ‘The Integrated Tracking, Referral, and Electronic Decision Support, and Care Coordination (I-TREC) program: scalable strategies for the management of hypertension and diabetes within the government healthcare system of India’, BMC Health Services Research, 20(1022), pp. 1-12. Web.
Rosen, M. A. et al. (2018) ‘Teamwork in healthcare: key discoveries enabling safer, high-quality care’, American Psychologist, 73(4), pp. 433–450. Web.
Talent. (2022) Healthcare average salary in Australia 2022. Web.