Week 2 – Assignment: Examine Governance Strategies in Changing Healthcare Environments
The U.S. healthcare environment is complex and continuously changing across a variety of disciplines and service levels. In some cases, the competencies needed by health administrators to respond to current and emerging issues are not always well understood (Figueroa, Harrison, Chauhan, & Meyer, 2019). The reason being, some health administrators are not proficient in the five critical competency domains: (a) Leadership, including the ability to inspire individual and organizational excellence; (b) Communication and Relationship Management, including the ability to communicate clearly and concisely with internal and external customers, establish and maintain relationships, and facilitate constructive interactions with individuals and groups; (c) Professional and Social Responsibility, including the ability to align personal and organizational conduct with ethical and professional standards; (d) Health and Healthcare Environment, including a firm understanding of the healthcare system and the environment in which healthcare managers and providers function; and (e) Business, including the ability to apply business principles, especially systems thinking, to the healthcare environment (International Hospital Federation, 2015). Even more, with the constant changes occurring in the modern healthcare industry – including increased collaboration between health systems and health plans, more focus being placed on the patient rather than the illness, advances in technology, more patients considering virtual health, and increased focus on population health – hospitals and health systems need to make strategic, operational, and financial adjustments to ensure long-term success (Burrill, 2018; Gooch, 2019). Therefore, the role of governance has become that much more important in the move towards improving quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of healthcare delivery (Chanturidze & Obermann, 2016).
Your assignment for this week is to first identify and address one key challenge faced in today’s healthcare environment. From there, examine at least three strategies for members of a hospital’s governing body to assist the organization to address this challenge. As you discuss the strategies, consider leadership and management elements such as organizational structures, policies, processes, technology, and interactions.
Length: 2-3 pages, not including title page, reference page(s), or any appendices
References: Include at least 3 peer-reviewed sources
The completed assignment should address all of the assignment requirements, exhibit evidence of concept knowledge, and demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the content presented in the course. The writing should integrate scholarly resources, reflect academic expectations and current APA standards, and adhere to Northcentral University’s Academic Integrity Policy.
