Intro
The Chief Executive Officer heads one of the three arms of a hospital, that is, the administrative arm. The medical director on the other hand heads the medical arm while the Board heads the trustees (Kitchheimer, 2001). A hospital cannot run efficiently if the three sources of authority do not collaborate. The Chief Executive officer’s role as the head of the administration is to ensure that the board’s policies are adopted and that the daily activities of a hospital are well managed. Mr. Dan Smith the newly appointed CEO at Great Lakes Memorial Hospital should be able to deal with the operational, regulatory and market issues confronting the hospital. It is his role to ensure that Great Lake Memorial Hospital and Springville General Hospital respond to changing community needs and environmental conditions in a systematic way without duplicating the services.
Role of a Hospital CEO
As the newly appointed CEO of Great Lakes Memorial Hospital, it is Mr. Smith’s work to ensure the following:
- Carry out the board of directors mission while maintaining the financial viability of the two hospitals
- Make sure that the two-hospital offer quality healthcare to the community.
- Ensure the hospital has proper physician and medical staff. This can be achieved using the hand-off approach whereby he should delegate on logistics and legwork of recruiting (Boan & Funderburk, 2003).
- The CEO should ensure that the hospital portray teamwork and have proper communication to avoid conflicts through proper management strategies.
- In overall, Mr. Smith’s major roles are to ensure that the two hospitals are properly governed, managed and all financial issues solved efficiently.
Problems the CEO Is Likely to Face
The major problems facing many hospitals that Mr. Smith will encounter as the newly appointed CEO is trying to control the cost of healthcare, which is on an increasing trend and contracting reimbursement (Li-Ping Tang & Timmer, 2008). The hospitals are challenged because the community expects them to provide more services than they are paid for. Due to this, they are faced with tight budgets that they need to control. Despite the budget crisis reimbursement for outpatients are getting reduced by the federal government.
Another problem Mr. Smith is likely to face is on staffing since there is a national shortage of nurses. It is even more challenging because he is running two hospitals that require more staff. In summary, the problems Mr. Smith is likely to face include issues of quality care, patient safety, personnel shortage, patient satisfaction, capacity and Government mandates among others (Firth-Cozens, 2001).
Management Issues
In order for Mr. Smith to manage Great Lake Memorial Hospital and Springville General Hospital properly, he needs the cooperation of both hospitals authoritative arms. He should plan a meeting with the current Springville General Hospital CEO so that they can look at the developments and current issues facing the hospital. Together with the board and Directors of Medical services, they should look for ways of providing quality medical care and maintaining patient satisfaction without exceeding their budget.
In the matter of physicians’ shortage and recruitment, Mr. Smith should ensure that he implements a strategic framework. He should first understand the current medical staff in the hospitals and their projected needs. He should implement a staff plan that would serve as a blue print in the staffing requirements, both current and projected (Firth-Cozens, 2001). In case there is a hospital/physicians conflict Mr. Smith should try to understand the source of conflict.
Since shortage of physician is a problem facing hospitals, Mr. Smith should create physicians retention programs that would include incentive contracts and packages, sourcing and assisting in physician’s relocation (Corporate Board, 1997).He should create an optimal environment for his staff, which would in turn attract other doctors.
Discussion
Due to the merger of Great Lake Memorial Hospital and Springville General Hospital there would be administrative changes in the two hospitals. The CEO of Great Lake Memorial Hospital will be faced with greater responsibility since there is additional staff and responsibility. The Chief Executive Officer of Springville General Hospital on the other hand will cope with a changed management style because instead of managing the hospital on his decisions another CEO will be involved too. The CEO of Springville General Hospital would have to adjust to the fact that his decisions will be scrutinized by another board and that he has to collaborate with Mr. Smith in all issues regarding creation, implementation and management of policies.
Conclusion
A hospital CEO is a challenging position. It is one of the toughest positions especially in healthcare(Corporate Board,1997).It is the CEO’s role to ensure that the hospital meets the community needs by ensuring that it offers quality medical care. The CEO ensures this by setting up proper management strategies and ensuring that he stays on budget. The Chief Executive Officer does not work alone and has to follow the board’s instructions. He also has to make sure that the medical staff is comfortable for proper running of the hospital. Mr. Smith is therefore faced with many challenges because he is a new CEO and in addition to this, he would be heading two hospitals. He should be able to run the hospitals effectively if he has the experience and he understands what it takes to achieve the hospitals vision.
References
Boan, D. & Funderburk, F. (2003) Healthcare Quality Improvement and Organizational Culture, Delmarva Foundation.1-13
Corporate Board (Eds). (1997) CEO behavior linked to company’s financial success. Corporate Board, 18(105), 29
Firth-Cozens, J. (2001) Cultures for improving patient safety through learning: the role of teamwork, Quality Health Care, 10, Suppl. 2, 26-31
Kitchheimer, B. (2001). Global ambition. Modern Healthcare, 31 (19), 30. Web.
Li-Ping T., T. & Timmer, L. S. (2008). All in the name of change: Effects of organizational change on performance measures of customer service in the health care industry. International Journal of Organizational Theory and Behavior, 11(2), 220-239.