Health Organization Evaluation
Research a health care organization or network that spans several states within the United States (United Healthcare, Vanguard, Banner Health, etc.). Assess the readiness of the health care organization or network you chose in regard to meeting the health care needs of citizens in the next decade.
Prepare a 1,000-1,250-word paper that presents your assessment and proposes a strategic plan to ensure readiness. Include the following:
- Describe the health care organization or network.
- Describe the organization’s overall readiness based on your findings.
- Prepare a strategic plan to address issues pertaining to network growth, nurse staffing, resource management, and patient satisfaction.
- Identify any current or potential issues within the organizational culture and discuss how these issues may affect aspects of the strategic plan.
- Propose a theory or model that could be used to support implementation of the strategic plan for this organization. Explain why this theory or model is best.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Refer to the LopesWrite Technical Support articles for assistance.
Sample Answer
Healthcare Network Description
United Healthcare is a profit-making health care organization that serves millions of people throughout their lifespan. Therefore, United Healthcare’s central vision and mission is to help people live healthier lives and make the health system work better for everyone (United Healthcare, 2020). United Healthcare provides numerous health benefit programs to different age groups in the US, including Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, individuals, and employers. United Healthcare also partners with more than 1.3 million health care professionals and physicians and nearly 6,500 healthcare facilities across the US to ensure that populations access the right healthcare services at the right time. The United Healthcare network has more than 125,000 employees with various talents that help to pursue the organization’s central goal, which is to provide quality care at an affordable cost to all (United Healthcare, 2020).
United Healthcare’s Readiness to Meet the Healthcare Needs of Citizens in the Next Decade
United Healthcare appears ready to meet the healthcare needs of citizens in the next decade. According to Burke & Ryan (2016), the demand for health care services in the United States and other developed countries will grow significantly in the next decade as the population ages. This is because older adults are at an increased risk of diseases and illnesses, including chronic conditions. Older people above the age of 65 require consistent access to healthcare services (Burke & Ryan, 2016). In the next decade, United Healthcare will promote accessibility of healthcare services to large populations through its numerous health benefit programs that are suited to individuals of different lifestyles and ages (United Healthcare, 2020). United Healthcare has health benefit programs for different income levels, including lower-middle and high-income individuals. As the demand for healthcare services increases in the next decade, united healthcare will therefore be at the forefront of meeting this demand through their flexible health benefit programs (United Healthcare, 2020).
The flexible health benefit programs provided by United Healthcare also address one of the central challenges related to costs. According to Burke & Ryan (2016), the cost of healthcare services in the US is expected to keep increasing in the next decade. There is, therefore, a great need for healthcare facilities and healthcare networks such as United Healthcare to come up with innovative products and services that can help increase efficiency and reduce the cost of health care. United Healthcare appears ready to meet the challenge of rising costs in the Healthcare Industry in the next decade. This is because United Healthcare has formulated diverse health benefit programs targeting individuals of different lifestyle ages and income levels. These programs can be bought by employers, individuals, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. The wide range of health benefit programs offered by United Healthcare improve the affordability of healthcare services and offer flexible programs to consumers (United Healthcare, 2020).
As the demand for healthcare services increases in the next decade, significant proportions of the population in the United States will find it challenging to access needed health care services at the right time (Burke & Ryan, 2016). United Healthcare appears to be ready to meet this challenge by partnering with more than 1.3 million health care professionals and physicians and more than 6,500 Healthcare facilities of different levels across the USUS. The massive partnership between United Healthcare, professionals, and healthcare facilities will help a significant proportion of the US population access needed healthcare services in a timely manner (United Healthcare, 2020).
Finally, United Healthcare appears ready to meet the healthcare needs of citizens in the next decade through its significant investment in innovation and technology development in the Healthcare industry. As the demand for health care services grows in the next decade, Healthcare organizations and networks will be required to perform more efficiently and be more innovative to provide efficient and quality services to patients. By funding innovation and technology development initiatives, United Healthcare will become the leader in efficiency and quality services in the future (United Healthcare, 2020).
Strategic Plan for United Healthcare
Related to network growth, United Healthcare plans to focus on value-based contracting and work with accountable care organizations in the future. In the future, United Healthcare plans to move from volume-based contracting, which has been the main method utilized by the network in the past. Volume contracting includes working with organizations that utilize the fee-for-service model and are reimbursed according to the volume of services they offer to patients as opposed to the quality of care they offer to patients. In the future, United Healthcare will therefore work with accountable care organizations through value-based contracts. Accountable care organizations rely on value-based reimbursement models where a healthcare facility is only reimbursed based on the quality of care provided to patients (United Healthcare, 2020).
On the other hand, related to patient satisfaction, the strategic goal of United Healthcare is to adopt value-based contracting strategies and only partner with health care facilities that utilize value-based healthcare delivery models. Healthcare facilities that utilize value-based healthcare delivery models focus on improving patient outcomes and reducing costs, resulting in increased patient satisfaction (United Healthcare, 2020).
