Let It Pour: My First Assignment as Executive Assistant

Let it Pour: My First Assignment as Executive Assistant.

Chris is the new executive assistant to the Pat, CEO. Pat has requested Chris to identify the problems and present the findings so Pat can compose a speech to the media, Board of Directors, stakeholders, and all members of staff. Faith Community Hospital has been enforced to take a more in depth look into the mission statement, the financial status, and the performance issues within the organization. After the problems have been identified, Chris needs to recognize the causes. Once he uncovers the causes, he can present the recommendations to Pat, his boss.

IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEMS

Mission Statement

One of the problems that Chris has identified is that the mission statement is difficult to interpret because it focuses on the personal values of people. Different people have different values and therefore their interpretation will be different. Faith Community Hospital's mission statement in the UOP Material (2004) reads:

"With the foundation and commitment of our spiritual heritage and values, our mission is to promote the health and well-being of the people in the communities we serve through a comprehensive continuum of services provided in collaboration with the partners who share the same vision and values" (par. 14).

This mission statement is not specific and sounds more like an oath than a mission. It is not clear regarding the organization's vision and values, and does nothing to show patients, competitors, and staff what the hospital has to offer that is different. With the mission statement as it is now, it is hard to use to make decisions and measure if it is being lived by. Faith Community Hospital needs a mission statement as a source of direction that lets the Board, CEO, employees, patients, and other stakeholders know what it stands for and where it is headed. The mission statement should be written, to provide the best possible and personalized health care in a cost-effective way. A useful mission statement is very brief, specific, understood by everyone, and actionable. The Board of Directors and the CEO must reflect the vision and methods in the mission statement when making decisions so that others will follow. The fact that the CEO puts emphasis on the mission statement shows the executive assistant that the CEO is unaware of his role to implement it.

Financial Status

The second problem that Chris found was why the cost per patient per day was rising. Why did the hospital have less patients and higher costs? With a little research, Chris found out why. External and internal factors affect a hospital's performance every day. One of the external factors is, HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) enrollment is increasing across the country, which is more cost-effective for businesses. Reimbursements from Medicare, Medicaid, and other major health plans are not keeping up with the costs of inflation and are being reduced. Many people do not realize that, while hospital bills may seem enormous, the hospital is only being reimbursed for a small percentage of the total bill. In the past, a hospital received 62 cents for every dollar billed to Medicare. Hospitals now receive only 54 cents for every dollar billed (Rose, 2003). With advances in technology, it has reduced the amount of recovery time that must be spent in a hospital, and shifted many procedures to outpatient settings. Hospitals are not being used to their fullest capacity. Lack of patients makes it difficult for a hospital to pay doctors incentives. Internal factors are reductions in length of hospital stay, particularly for Medicare patients, misdirected hospital capacity, and the lack of alignment between physician and hospital payment incentives. Therefore making changes in physician practice patterns are difficult to implement. Another important internal factor is, the Board of Directors are closing services that they feel are not being utilized in communities when they really are needed. The Board of Directors do not re-educate communities about new decisions and costs in health-care programs they have implemented. Together, these factors have contributed to higher operating costs (Report of the Advisory Commission on Hospitals, 2004). With this knowledge, Chris suggests the finance department, the administrative assistant, and he could look at other ways to bring in more profits and patients while still offering good quality care.

Performance Issues

The last problem is the performance processes issue. Staff members were following their own set of rules. Some doctors were doing pro-bono work which was against hospital polices. Other staff members were unsure of procedures pertaining to ethical issues, such as patients refusing to take certain medical services, and staff refusing to provide certain services because medical intervention can go too far into conflict with their religious belief and moral convictions. Chris recognizes that there are some policies and procedures already in place, but doctors and staff are not adhering to them.

ALTERNATIVES

Mission Statement

Chris believes the mission statement should be re-written, or re-evaluated and revised. If the mission statement's words are changed with more clarity and with direction from top leaders of how the mission statement should be interpreted, there will be less confusion amongst staff.

The advantages of rewriting the mission statement are that the Board of Directors, CEO, staff and other stakeholders will have a clear direction of what the Hospital does, who it services, and what makes it unique. By rewriting the mission statement, can change past attitudes and behaviors. A rewritten mission statement can also improve the hospital's purpose, communication, decision making, resource allocation, evaluation, and marketing. Finally, it can inspire commitment and innovation from leaders, and staff.

The disadvantages to rewriting the mission statement are that it will be a time-consuming and expensive job. The mission statement may be superficial if rushed. Another disadvantage is that rebellion and a passive resistance could surface from the individuals who created the first mission statement.

The advantages to re-evaluate and revise the mission statement are; it can change past behaviors and attitudes. Having an original mission statement to work with will be less time-consuming and costly, compared to having to create one from scratch. By making small changes will reduce the chance of a rebellion from those who created the first mission statement.

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