Rationale for selecting the issue
The US healthcare system is the most complex and one of the largest healthcare systems in the entire world. It has proved to improve the health conditions and increase the life expectancies of the Americans. However, there are many issues at the management level that is posing a threat to patient safety and frustrations that is arising among the medical staffs that their concerns are not being addressed. Recently, in March, 2017, Swedish Neuroscience Institute situated on the Cherry Hill campus in Seattle is facing leadership issues that led to unprecedented events regarding patient safety and concerns of medical staffs. The CEO Anthony Armada and Dr. Delashaw of Swedish healthcare organization steeped down from their roles as they are lacking effective and efficient leadership in managing the Swedish healthcare system. The following essay deals with the leadership issue that the being faced by the Swedish Neuroscience Institute in Seattle, its impact on the healthcare system, healthcare policy and implications on the future healthcare practices (Zimlichman et al., 2013).
The issue of leadership in Swedish Neuroscience Institute has been selected as it has not only affected the medical staffs, but, also poses serious threat to the patient care and safety. It is greatly hampering the patient’s safety and credential issues that are lacking management in the US healthcare system (Lawton Jr, Taye & Ivanov, 2014). The workload that is imposed on the medical staffs is leading to multiple surgeries that are resulting in medication errors and thereby, threat to patient safety. The issue is greatly hampering the organizational culture and trust among the people working at Swedish Neuroscience Institute. The hospital leaders incentivized the neuroscience unit doctors to perform unnecessary, complicated surgeries on the patients to draw revenue. This has left the patient’s safety in jeopardy and therefore, critical analysis of the leadership issue in terms of US healthcare system would help to determine the effect on the healthcare system in terms of patient safety and care.
The healthcare management comprises of healthcare professionals, departments and specialties that work together in an unparalleled constraints in different disease areas with the multidisciplinary tasks and multidirectional goals (By & Burnes, 2013). Therefore, in large healthcare organizations, numerous groups with different subcultures work in collaboration to provide the best quality of care to the patients and in ensuring patient safety. So, there is a requirement of efficient leadership qualities to capitalize this multicultural diversity in the healthcare system as a whole. Effective leadership qualities also help to optimize management and utilize resources in the designing of the management processes and encouraging the personnel towards their goal of effective healthcare to the people under their provision (Johnston & Marshall, 2016).
The leadership issue that is lacking in the Swedish Neuroscience Institute is greatly hampering the US health care system as a whole. The lack of effective and efficient leadership is greatly affecting the employees and also the patients under their provision of care. As the doctors are overloaded with multiple surgeries in a day, their delivery of healthcare is greatly affected leading to medical errors and harming patient safety. There is disturbed leadership among the hospital leaders as there is lack of sense making and no proper addressing of the changes that the business environment is undergoing and interpretation of these ramifications of the changes within the organization (Hackman & Johnson, 2013). Moreover, there is lack of trust, advocacy and mutual respect among the employees with the managers. As the hospital leaders are posing unnecessary workload on the surgeons to perform multiple surgeries, their concerns are not addressed properly leading to mass resignation and inefficient leadership. There is also unethical leadership demonstrated by the hospital leaders as they are affecting the working lives of the healthcare professionals, patient outcomes and the overall fate of the organization (Eisenbeiß & Brodbeck, 2014). There is unethical leadership as the hospital leaders are encouraging the surgeons to perform risky strategies like unnecessary multiple surgeries and engaging them in crimes of obedience.
Relation of the issue with healthcare management
The lack of effective leadership shows that the senior management is not aware of the ineffective management of the organization as a whole. The role of the senior management is to look into the managerial process, stability, control and in resolving the problems instantly (Renz, 2016). The hospital leaders are not performing their role in an efficient manner as they are involved n unethical practices in order to draw profits. The CEOs should act as leadership coaches who are inspire the organization to take responsibility to create a better organization. The senior management lacks the transformational and collaborative leadership qualities. The leaders lack motivation that inspires the employees to work towards the mission of the hospital. Moreover, the leaders did not show effective communication that might have conveyed the vision and mission of the hospital to their employees and the organization at a whole (Ardoin et al., 2015).
There is lack of commitment among the managers as hey failed to empower the employees towards ethical clinical practice for better health outcomes and experiences of the patient. There is also lack of collaborative leadership at the senior management level as there is no communication among the managers and co-workers and organizational symbiosis that work together for mutual benefit. The doctors’ concerns were not heard and addressed by the hospital leaders and there was lack of communication in sharing knowledge and experiences among the employees and the senior management.
The senior management did not ensure to integrate the Quality and Safety Education System in the nursing curriculum which comprises of the policies that ensures patient safety and care (Dolansky & Moore, 2013). Moreover, the QSEN framework was not incorporated in the nursing curriculum that helps to develop skills, knowledge and attitude that address patient-centered area, evidence based practice, teamwork and safety. The nurses need to practice the standards and competencies in the QSEN framework that would help to ensure efficient healthcare delivery and better patient outcomes. The senior management should look into the matter of workload pressure on the doctors and nurses and ensure effective way of providing best quality of healthcare (Windle, 2015).
The report on the US healthcare system in the Swedish Neuroscience Institute highlights the leadership issue that is affecting the organizational culture and harming patient safety. The lack of leadership qualities at the managerial level is challenging the healthcare organization. The hospitals leaders lack effective leadership qualities and it is greatly hampering the patient safety and care. The doctors are encouraged in unethical means for better profits leading to medical errors and poor patient health outcomes. The impact of the issue is critically examined that shows lack of transformational leadership that is engaging the employees in unethical practices leading to mass resignation and hampering patient safety.
After identifying and evaluating the issue of the Swedish Neuroscience Institute of Seattle, it is understandable that the elaborated issue negatively affects several health care policies. More specifically, it has been identified that the distinct issue in the mentioned health care organization is chiefly hampering two health care policies, which have been coined by the USA government. Most significantly, two of those health care policies are found to be part of the HHS issues regulations, which are the ACA or Affordable Care Act as well as the HIPAA Privacy Rule (Boulware et al., 2016). Both of the identified policies are being highly violated by the highlighted issue.
Importance of the issue to Senior Management
More precisely, it has been understood that the issue of lack of efficient leadership is violating the Affordable Care Act is because of the reason that the organization is making profit in an unethical way. It has been elaborated above that the organization is suffering from ethical leadership and at the same time, the organization is known for applying unnecessary intervention upon the patients. Understandably, patients of the particular health care centre are finding it difficult to afford the service costs. Henceforth, it can be definitely said that the particular issue is breaching the policy of Affordable Care Act, which is to improve the method of giving care and improvise the standard of care. Alongside, the legal policy instructs that the physicians as well as the health care houses should drive their practices financially so that patients can easily afford standard health care (Naci & Soumerai, (2016).
Similarly, due to the specified issue, the organization has violated the fundamental rules of the HHS issues regulations. It seems after evaluating the issue that the second identified policy has been breached due to the fact that most of the times the clinicians do not engage the patients to examine their health records. Unnecessary interventions on patients’ health are indicative of the fact that patients are misled and most of times are left with little information about their actual health condition (Boulware et al., 2016).
As discussed above, the particular issue is most potential in harming the reputation of the organization. It seems that the considered organization has used the policy of HITECH Act in a wrong way too. In future, if the organization would not take any firm action, then possibly all legal and ethical rules will be hampered. In form of consequence, the health care enterprise will run in loss. Furthermore, if the issue would not be mitigated soon, then it will gradually violate other health care policies followed by the organization. Therefore, the fundamental principles of both of the identified legal policies are required to be obliged immediately (Furrow et al., 2013). It would not only help in mitigating the ethical blunder but also help the organization in avoiding any act of ethical mischief.
Considering the above discussion and their implication, it is understandable that the senior management of the organization immediately needs to solve the problem of unethical leadership. The identified issue is indicative of the fact that the hierarchy of the health care enterprise has been reluctant or absolutely ignorant about the problem. Therefore, it can be said that if the senior hierarchy of Swedish Neuroscience Institute of Seattle will think about bringing change in the management, they should immediately remove the problem by remodelling the leadership style and the service regulations (By & Burnes, 2013). It should be considered in this context that the organization is highly suffering from ethical conundrum in the premise of leadership. Therefore, the organization can think about implementing collaborative and transformational leadership, which would help in minimizing the work load pressure from the clinicians. At the same time, it would help in improvising the service standard.
On the other hand, in order to stop making unnecessary intervention on the health of the patient, the senior management can think about forming a separate team of managers for monitoring.
References
Ardoin, N. M., Gould, R. K., Kelsey, E., & Fielding-Singh, P. (2015). Collaborative and transformational leadership in the environmental realm. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 17(3), 360-380.
Boulware, L. E., Cooper, L. A., Ratner, L. E., LaVeist, T. A., & Powe, N. R. (2016). Race and trust in the health care system. Public health reports.
By, R. T., & Burnes, B. (Eds.). (2013). Organizational change, leadership and ethics: Leading organizations towards sustainability. Routledge.
Dolansky, M. A., & Moore, S. M. (2013). Quality and safety education for nurses (QSEN): The key is systems thinking. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 18(3).
Eisenbeiß, S. A., & Brodbeck, F. (2014). Ethical and unethical leadership: A cross-cultural and cross-sectoral analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, 122(2), 343-359.
Furrow, B. R., Greaney, T. L., Johnson, S. H., Jost, T. S., & Schwartz, R. L. (2013). Health Law: Materials and Problems.
Hackman, M. Z., & Johnson, C. E. (2013). Leadership: A communication perspective. Waveland Press.
Johnston, M. W., & Marshall, G. W. (2016). Sales force management: Leadership, innovation, technology. Routledge.
Lawton Jr, E. D., Taye, F., & Ivanov, S. (2014). Job Insecurity and Other Leadership Issues in Organizations. International Journal of Organizational Innovation (Online), 7(2), 79.
Naci, H., & Soumerai, S. B. (2016). History bias, study design, and the unfulfilled promise of pay-for-performance policies in health care. Preventing Chronic Disease, 13.
Renz, D. O. (2016). The Jossey-Bass handbook of nonprofit leadership and management. John Wiley & Sons.
Windle, M. (2015). QSEN: Quality and Safety Education for Nurses. MedSurg Nursing, 24(6), S9-S9.
Zimlichman, E., Henderson, D., Tamir, O., Franz, C., Song, P., Yamin, C. K., … & Bates, D. W. (2013). Health care–associated infections: a meta-analysis of costs and financial impact on the US health care system. JAMA internal medicine, 173(22), 2039-2046.
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