Week 1

Organizational Survival Strategies

This discussion has two options. Please choose either Option A or Option B to respond to. Be sure to indicate within your post which option you chose. 

Option A: Hospitals frequently seek ways to ensure survival. Sometimes an adversarial climate cannot be avoided when the action that is being considered is controversial. For example, a hospital may seek to expand its market reach by opening an inpatient drug treatment facility in a small suburban township. The county where the township sits has seen a steady rise in heroin addiction, as well as an increase in hepatitis cases. As a manager, identify the three possible categories of clients within this new clientele network. Give at least one example of a client for each category and explain the reason for your decision. 

Option B: In this increasingly difficult economic environment, many organizations have been forced to take drastic operational and systematic measures to stay afloat and maintain their position within the community. If you were a health care manager leading an organization in which its financial, political, and/or social position was threatened, what survival strategies would you employ? Please choose at least three strategies from your textbook to discuss and thoroughly explain the rationale for your choices. 
The Challenge of Change 

Change is usually positive, but it can also be difficult to embrace at times.  Employees can be resistant to change, while managers may feel that it is necessary for organizational stability.  Discuss the challenge of change as it relates to health care organizations.  What is the overall impact of change on the organization, its employees, and its constituents, and what role does the manager play as an agent of change?  In addition to responding to these questions, review the examples of successful change in your textbook and choose two examples to discuss in greater detail.  What did you learn from these examples?  In each case, how did the individuals overcome the barriers to change, and what were the resulting benefits?

Week 2

Policy and Planning Constraints 

Locate an example of a policy or guideline from an external source to a healthcare organization. Explain how this policy or guidlines may be a constraint to a healthcare organization’s planning, or how it may shape the healthcare organization’s philosophy. For example, given that the American Academy of Pediatrics offers guidelines on child vaccinations, these guidelines might impact the ability of the healthcare organization to deliver services to newborns and infants. Using a similar example, as well as the characteristics of effective plans as your framework, discuss how proper planning can help organizations in their future decision making. 

The Control Process

The control process involves three phases that are cyclic: establishing standards, measuring performance, and correcting deviations. Examine the manner in which health care leaders progress through each phase of the control process to manage organizations.  What is the management function of controlling as related to performance improvement?  What tools are used to measure and monitor performance?  Please describe at least two functions and two tools in your response. 

Week 3

Strategic Planning and Budgeting

 Imagine you are considering the possibility of operating a small business or practice related to health care, either as a provider of some sort of care or as a service intended to support various provider organizations in their care-delivery activities. 

1. Describe the kind of entity you plan to establish by stating the service or services you propose to deliver and the kinds of clients or customers you would be serving.   
2. Write a few sentences offering compelling reasons for your proposed venture, explaining why you believe it is needed and by whom it is needed.  Also discuss any competition you foresee.   
3. Develop an estimate of how much money you will require to become established your business, and state how you would finance your venture. Also discuss your plan for maintaining your budget. 
4. Create a mission or vision statement for your organization.

Committees and Teams

Select either Option A or Option B to respond to and indicate within your post which option you chose. 
Option A : Identify what you believe are the top three challenges in setting up a hospital-based committee from a managerial perspective.  In a 250- to 300- word post, discuss your rationale and address the following questions: 

1. Why are committees advantageous for health care organizations? 
2. What are some of the steps that you, as a manager, could take to overcome these challenges? 
3. How would you address conflict and/or divisiveness within the committee or team?

Option B : Committees have been determined as a necessary component to health care organizations.  As a manager, you have been tasked to set up a committee with one of the hospital departments.  In doing so, in a 250-300 word post, consider the following questions:  

1. How much influence should the committee have in the overall management structure? 
2. How would you maintain authority without adopting an autocratic leadership style? 
3. How would you set up an employee team without violating union and labors laws?

Week 4

Case Study: Authority and Leadership

Review the details of the case Authority and Leadership: Rising From the Ranks from your course text, and respond to the following questions:

1. Identify the potential advantages Julie might enjoy in becoming manager of a group of which she has long been a member, and contrast these with the possible disadvantages that might present themselves because she has long been a member of this group.
2. Describe how Julie will have to proceed in establishing herself as the legitimate possessor or supervisory authority on the unit, and describe the sources and forms of Julie’s authority

Motivational Conflict Resolution

Select either Option A or Option B and indicate in your post which option you have selected.  
In any organization, regardless of the industry, some level of conflict and/or office bickering is inevitable and may have a damaging impact on productivity and motivation or morale. However, it is the responsibility of the manager to ensure that conflict is avoided whenever possible, and when it does occur, it is handled in an appropriate and respectful manner. With this in mind, listen to the podcast,  Stop the Medical Office Bickering and respond to your selected option.

Option A: Case Study: A Matter of Motivation: The Delayed Promotion

Review the details of the case above from your course text, and respond to the following questions:

1. Thoroughly analyze the likely state of your ability to motivate yourself in your new position. In the process, comment to whatever extent you feel necessary on your level of confidence in the relative stability of your position and how this might affect your performance.
2. Describe the most likely motivational state of your HIM staff at the time you assumed the director’s position, and explain in detail why this state probably exists.
3. Based on the podcast, what are some proactive strategies that management could have used to reduce the potential for conflict in this situation?

Option B: Case Study: Charting a Course for Conflict Resolution: “It’s a Policy” 

Review the details of the case above from your course text, and respond to the following questions:

1. Develop the argument you would be advocating if you were in George Mann’s position.  In a similar fashion, thoroughly develop the argument you would advance if you were in Sally Carter’s position.
2. Assuming the position of CEO, Jane Arnold, render a decision. Document your decision in whatever detail may be necessary, and include a complete explanation for your decision.
3. Based on the foregoing, outline whatever steps (e.g., policy changes, guidelines, payroll requirements, or something else) you believe should be considered to minimize the chances of similar conflict in the future.

Week 5

Communication Challenges

Select either Option A or Option B and indicate in your post which option you have selected.   
Option A: Compared to a non-healthcare organization, a manager must have a special skill set for communicating with health professionals and non professionals within a health care organization. What do you believe are those particular skill sets? What are the ethical, financial, and legal implications for communication within a health care organization? What are the some of the primary barriers to communication between a manager and his/her staff? 

Option B: Case Study: Your Word Against His 

Review the details of the case “Your Word Against His” in your course text. Describe in detail any options you could pursue to set the matter straight for all parties who received the wrong information, while incurring the minimum possible public disfavor by the vice president. In addition, describe what you think went wrong this in case. Where was the communication breakdown, and how could it have been avoided?

The Health Professional as Manager

Select either Option A or Option B and indicate in your post which option you have selected. 

Option A:  Imagine your colleague and friend, Jane Smith, has recently been promoted to department manager for your facility.  You have worked side-by-side with Jane for the past ten years and can speak to her excellent skills as a health professional.  However, Jane has no prior management experience and  many of your co-workers are fearful that she does not possess the necessary leadership skills to effectively lead the team.  You feel conflicted because you agree with your colleagues but you also have faith that Jane will do her best.  Considering Jane’s situation, describe the dual role of the health professional as manager.  What challenges do managers face when they make the leap from health care professional to manager?  What are some of the common complaints to indicate the presence of ill-fitting management? 

Option B: Given the effort and creativity that you have put into your Senior Projects for this course, use this discussion board as a forum to share your topic with your classmates.  Provide a comprehensive description of the topic you chose, discuss your reason(s) for choosing the topic, and present some of the key information that you learned throughout the research process.  For example, what did you learn about the role of management in influencing health care decisions?  How do you think the future of healthcare will be impacted by your topic?  Are there any current events and/or media stories that relate to your topic? 

 

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2 Short Papers (3-4 pages each)

Chose 1 topic/theme/arguments from the books and then critically evaluate them

Half the paper a summary of the topic/theme/arguments and the other half critical evaluation

Science and Religion? Are they compatible? – Dennett, Daniel C and Plantinga, Alvin

The Future of an Illusion – Freud, Sigmund (talk about wishful fulfillment)

When Bad Things Happen to Good People – Kushner, Harold (talk about aspects from the book)

Mere Christianity – Lewis, C.S

Reason & Religion Belief: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion – Peterson Michael.

 

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