Strategic Management and the Health Care Facility Essay

Strategic Management and the Health Care Facility - Essay Example In order to build a template for interview, it was necessary to conduct preliminary research into certain strategic issues which might be present in a variety of health care settings. Two health care professionals identify that the hands of health care workers can spread â€Å"both normal and pathological microorganisms† and is the â€Å"main route of infection spread† (Green-McKenzie and Caruso, 2006, p.57). This led to the development of interview questions dealing with the potential risks of worker-to-patient infection spreads to induce discussion from the participant about this aspect of health care delivery and patient liability.  The Senior Risk Manager advised that these types of problems are present in most health care settings, with the hospital administration continuously having to work within guidelines from multiple regulatory forces (such as the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention). With there always being a risk of transmitting dangerous infections or diseases from worker to patient, part of the risk manager’s role is to procure literature on the subject, coordinate the distribution of alcohol-based hand rubs, and ensure compliance to certain individual staff guidelines on clean health care delivery. In this role, the risk manager also works on various informative programs for community citizens regarding better hygiene in the home and professional environment as part of the hospital’s growing focus on sending the public image of a socially-conscious organization. Thus, at the senior level, it would seem that in-house sanitation and community hygiene and the promotion of better health care are regular concerns and considerations.  It is not only disease transmission concerns at the strategic level which cause concern, it is also the safe and accurate administration of medication to patients. It was identified that there have been several instances of patients receiving incorrect dosages due to illegible documen ts which were translated incorrectly. This represents a problem with physician quality-of-service. As part of this risk assessment, it was decided at this facility that sloppy physician writing was a reality of patient care, thus instead of reprimanding physicians, the hospital installed a new, touch-screen system for patient care. This was designed to improve the communications between physicians and support staff and also ensure that the hospital was reducing its potential liability for accurate medication dosing. â€Å"For many years, medication errors have been a source of serious concern within the health care community† (Skiba, 2006, p.70).