Part 1 Discussion – Health Care Leader Interface with Elected Officials and Innovative Ideas
Healthcare leaders can interface with local, state or nationally elected officials to develop innovative ideas in order to address local healthcare challenges by adopting various communication approaches. Effective communication strategies, such as the establishment of regular meetings and dialogue with leaders and members of the healthcare community, can be employed. Moreover, town hall events can be held where healthcare officials can bond with elected officials to establish rapport and trust while also prioritizing relationship-building within the healthcare community. To achieve this, healthcare leaders can leverage available research to understand the priorities and political viewpoints so that they can gain the attention of elected officials before they attempt to present their own perspectives on local healthcare challenges (Berwick, 2003).
This approach would help healthcare leaders present their perspectives on the priorities and concerns of elected officials because if they speak from a place of understanding, their input will be respected and heeded (Valente & Pumpuang, 2007). For instance, healthcare leaders can share their concerns about the lack of access to mental health services for families with low income in a certain city. To share this challenge, a city council member would be an appropriate elected official who, along with healthcare officials, oversees local governance. These officials would have direct responsibility for ensuring essential healthcare services, including mental health services, to all residents within their jurisdiction.
A system that is threatened by an innovative idea often faces rejection and resistance because change or innovation at workplaces is often accompanied by risk and uncertainty. This may be uncomfortable for the business as well as its employees, who are accustomed to the current system. The threat can be manifested as several forms of pushback ranging from passive resistance to vocal opposition within the workforce. An example of this phenomenon could be the implementation of electronic health records (EHRs) that posed a major change to the traditional paper-based record-keeping system in the healthcare sector. The employees resisted the adoption of this system as their jobs of maintaining paper records were threatened to a great extent as this system involved digitalizing patient information that replaced the old system (Keshavjee et al., 2006). Along with employees who were in charge of paper-based record keeping, physicians were also sceptical because they found the EHR system difficult to navigate. However, as the advantages of the system became more apparent in the care sector, employees and professionals embraced the technology in the healthcare industry.
References
Berwick, D. M. (2003). Disseminating innovations in health care. Jama, 289(15), 1969–1975.
Keshavjee, K., Bosomworth, J., Copen, J., Lai, J., Küçükyazici, B., Lilani, R., & Holbrook, A. M. (2006). Best practices in EMR implementation: A systematic review. AMIA.
Valente, T. W., & Pumpuang, P. (2007). Identifying opinion leaders to promote behaviour change. Health Education & Behavior, 34(6), 881–896.
Part 2 Discussion – Child Mortality and Advancements in Health Care Outcomes
Scanning the healthcare environment is a crucial tool for keeping professionals up to date with new trends and changes that may greatly impact strategic decisions within the workforce. Healthcare organizations assess changes, including technological advancements in healthcare and policies and regulations within the care sector that could impact patient outcomes. This would allow the organization to validate information being used in making strategic decisions about meeting patient needs and care service delivery by providing a comprehensive understanding of the external environment the organization operates (Wilburn et al., 2016).
With information at hand from scanning or surveying the healthcare environment, opportunities and threats can be factored into strategic decisions, which would ultimately increase the likelihood of success in achieving aims and goals in the organization (Hambrick, 1982). Examples from the literature suggest that healthcare environments that engage in scanning or surveying can achieve success in their goals and objectives in a better way. A study conducted by Charlton, Nagel, Kean, Boulos, and Azar (2021) found that healthcare environments that adopted environmental scanning practices were better equipped to identify potential risks and threats that could become problems. Moreover, this scanning enabled the organization to identify external factors impacting the operations that succeed in implementing strategic initiatives (Charlton et al., 2021).
In the care practice, for instance, a hospital might notice a trend of patients seeking alternative therapies for the management of pain. The hospital identified this trend by scanning the environment and developed a strategic plan to introduce alternative therapies for pain management within the organization, such as massage, into their service offerings. Resultantly, the hospital management was able to differentiate itself from other competitors in the healthcare sector and achieved an increased patient satisfaction rate as the organization met patient needs through providing a unique service.
In essence, by regularly scanning the healthcare environment, healthcare organizations can stay relevant, up-to-date, competitive, and change-appreciative in an ever-changing landscape.
References
Charlton, P., Kean, T., Liu, R. H., Nagel, D. A., Azar, R., Doucet, S., Luke, A., Montelpare, W., Mears, K., & Boulos, L. (2021). Use of environmental scans in health services delivery research: A scoping review. BMJ Open, 11(11), e050284.
Hambrick, D. C. (1982). Environmental scanning and organizational strategy. Strategic Management Journal, 3(2), 159–174.
Wilburn, A., Vanderpool, R. C., & Knight, J. R. (2016). Peer reviewed: Environmental scanning as a public health tool: Kentucky’s human papillomavirus vaccination project. Preventing Chronic Disease, 13.
