Introduction
Leaders bear the main responsibility of cultivating and maintaining active and tight collaboration within organizations or teams. Herewith, trust among team members is undoubtedly the cornerstone of cooperation, which is primarily characterized by mutual confidence in colleagues’ competency regarding making decisions, developing strategies, or applying particular approaches. This paper aims to examine personal actions and experiences in a specific project and highlight the significance of leadership and motivational techniques for cooperation. In addition, the paper will discuss an ethical code and its application to address specific ethical dilemmas.
Leadership Experience
Four years ago, when I worked for the Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) in the emergency department, I led a project on implementing a Health Information System (HIS) in the facility. The central goal of the given initiative was to substitute the paper-based variant of patients’ medical histories, guidelines, and instructions with a digital form to promote the staff’s workflow. HIS comprises two main interrelated and integrated systems: electronic medical records (EMR) and clinical decision support (CDS). The role of my team was to provide input information, including patients’ histories, guidelines, protocols, and clinical requirements, during the planning process. It is worth noting that my team comprised eleven individuals, two of whom were Black Americans and one Latino. Personally, I was accountable for conveying tasks and objectives to team members to guarantee a smooth collection of necessary data without significant deviations from the planned timeframe. The vision of the team is to bring helpful, innovative technologies into the medical setting to improve the safety and quality of healthcare.
To reach the goal, I practiced the democratic leadership style, considering it to be the most appropriate in the given case. This type relies on sharing decision-making opportunities with a team by considering the interests of the related followers or stakeholders and promoting social equality (Al Khajeh, 2018). As a leader, I tried to deliver direction and guidance to participants, but the final decision was mainly made based on collective voting or by considering the opinions and interests of all team members. Consequently, the members received a powerful motivational push by having the opportunity to advance propositions. Finally, I should add that I sometimes overreacted to particular suggestions and made precipitate decisions, which stimulated me to work on this aspect.
Collaboration and Engagement
Strong communication and collaboration are indispensable requirements for the success of any project. In this regard, leaders should apply diverse cooperative strategies and techniques to foster and maintain a robust team spirit and even camaraderie. To promote collaboration in my team, I first established a transparent reward system providing various stimuli for collective accomplishments. I also tried to recognize and appreciate colleagues when they achieved the set objective. Furthermore, I accommodated different collaboration styles, including face-to-face meetings, video conferencing, and group chat, which eventually helped enhance cooperation, mutual trust and understanding, and a level of data sharing. I also noticed that many members acquired confidence in communication and expressing their ideas. Nevertheless, I should admit that the ablest participants occasionally showed concern that my approach to active engagement of all team members in decision-making could retard the project’s advancement. In response, I strengthened my mentorship of those lacking the necessary knowledge and convinced them to attend relevant training courses. This ultimately resulted in improved cohesion between participants and understanding of each other.
Ethical Experience
Concerning the HIS, I primarily referred to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act. The acts establish compulsory confidentiality, integrity, and availability requirements for all electronic health information that medical organizations should comply with (“HIPAA and HITECH data security requirements,” n.d.). In addition, when resolving various ethical issues and dilemmas, I used the American College of Healthcare Executives Code of Ethics (ACHE Code of Ethics). This code determines the underlying principles, values, and rules for leaders while performing tasks and interacting with healthcare providers, professionals, patients, and caregivers.
The most serious dilemma while realizing the HIS was connected with the lack of security of patients’ information. The problem was that although the organization developed a coherent policy with strict penalties and clear rules providing particular persons with access to patient’s data, it did not have other safety-related measures. The ACHE Code of Ethics states, “ensure the existence of procedures that will safeguard the confidentiality and privacy of patients or others” (“ACHE Code of Ethics,” n.d.). Therefore, I recommended forming a council that would address the given concern in a cost-effective way.
As a result, the administration toughened the control and access to the data by providing entrance to confidential data only via using personal passwords that relevant individuals know. The webpages became tied to patients’ gadgets, and any login was notified to the patient through the mobile app. Another procedure was an automatic log-off after a short period of inactivity by the user. Moreover, to deliver privacy to patients’ health information, computers and databases were placed in specially designated offices accessed only by authorized persons. Finally, an organization provided backup data storage on reserve databases and software that allowed for recovering lost or encrypted information to prevent irretrievable information loss.
Conclusion
In summary, the paper has analyzed personal actions and experiences in a specific project and highlighted the significance of leadership and motivational techniques for cooperation. I utilized the democratic leadership style as one of the best ways to foster collaboration among team members. Besides, I mainly turned to a conceptual decision-making approach since it can fuel creative thinking and cooperation between stakeholders and consider different perspectives. Finally, when resolving various ethical problems and dilemmas, including ensuring the security of patients’ data, I referred to HIPAA, HITECH, and the ACHE Code of Ethics.
References
ACHE Code of Ethics. (n.d.). The American College of Healthcare Executives. Web.
Al Khajeh, E. H. Impact of leadership styles on organizational performance. Journal of Human Resources Management Research, 2018, 1-10. Web.
HIPAA and HITECH Data Security Requirements. (n.d.). Henry Schein MicroMD. Web.