Chicago Transition Case Study

The readings this week solidified many long standing questions that I’ve had about the healthcare system, and further proved to me just how flawed it is. The introduction and chapter four from The Social Transformation of American Medicine by Paul Starr established a framework and common language surrounding how the current healthcare system came to be. The introduction specifically heavily focused on the concept of authority and how cultural and societal authority differ and work to strengthen an individual's power. Following this intro, the fourth chapter serves to provide the reader with baseline historical context on how hospitals and physicians have evolved from voluntary institutions into for-profit corporations. Using these chapters as foundational knowledge Gambles chapter gains new nuances to the need for Black hospitals to be established, and the competing forces that were at work to ensure their failure.

1. In Chicago there were many different ritualistic events and activities in which the people were involved, many of which thousands of people would gather just to hear about. “Two thousand people gathered on the sidewalk and street outside the offices of the Chicago Tribune…” The people were gathered to hear the news about the big fair that was coming up. This fair was deep in the hearts of the Chicago people, just as the superbowl is in the hearts of Americans in today’s world.

In 1997 University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) merged its two public hospitals with Stanford’s two private hospitals. The two separate entities merged together to create a not-for-profit organization titled UCSF Stanford Health Care. The merger between the health systems at UCSF and Stanford seemed like a good idea due to the similar missions, proximity of institutions, increased financial pressure with cutbacks in Medicare reimbursements followed by a dramatic increase in managed care organizations. The first year UCSF Stanford Health Care produced a profit of $22 million, however three years later the health system had lost a total of $176 million (“UCSF-Stanford Merger,” n.d.). The first part of this paper will address reasons

Although the financial constraint was one of the initial triggers that made government to move toward privatization of health care, the argument of those who oppose to privatization remains at the prediction of future damages to the health care system caused by the privatization, not about the resolution of financial crisis. (Barkun, 2008; CBC, 2006; CNA, 2013; Deber, 2013; McDonald & McIntyre, 2014; ONA,

Nonprofit hospitals have become a common characteristic of the hospital sector because they can be found across the country because of their presence in almost every corner, they never decline to provide treatment, and offer several community-based health programs. On the contrary, the for-profit health facilities are regarded as the corporate model of health care services as they seek to make profit first. They enjoy huge capital that enables them to develop state-of-the-art facilities and purchase the latest clinical technologies.

The healthcare system in America started as a predominantly volunteer system where patients were required to pay little to nothing for treatment. Since it began, the healthcare industry has seen tremendous changes that have transformed it into a business entity which has operations like financial management, strategic planning and functional specialties to keep the industry viable. The industry is one of the largest in the country employing 15 million people with a projected increase of jobs with 3 million jobs annually. As the healthcare industry continues growing, services and personnel are changing, and various dynamics are coming into play to accommodate changes (Smith, Saunders, Stuckhardt, & McGinnis, 2013).

In the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century, America was dominated by change. Expansion, urbanization, immigration, and capitalism swept the nation from coast to coast affecting every class, race and religion. The United States economy changed dramatically, as the country transformed from a rural agricultural nation to an urban industrial giant, the leading manufacturing country in the world. As this economic growth proliferated, Chicago was the epicenter in America. Travelers from Europe flocked to Chicago in search of opportunity. Meatpacking and steel were especially attractive for unskilled laborers from Europe.

This paper strives to answer questions based on the case study “Emanuel Medical Center: Crisis in the Health Care Industry”. As excerpted directly from the case study, Mr. Robert Moen, Emanuel Medical Center (EMC) president and CEO, was experiencing a number of challenges in 2002. The medical center faced numerous challenges in its external and internal environment. First, EMC garnered an onslaught of negative attention for the “Haley Eckman incident” in which a young man, who happened to be a gang member, died within view of EMC’s Emergency Department (ED) medical personnel rendered no care and watched. The emergency department at EMC was also experiencing greater pressure to deliver services in an increasingly

To understand this process better, a case study will be referenced as a basis of the discussion of the paper. The study that will be utilized follows a multi-phase implementation of a program to change how to increase the Triple Aims within healthcare systems to deliver services within the community. The 2007 study was designed to evaluate how organizations could improve the quality, access, and reliability of care while being cost effective in providing healthcare services to the community (McCarthy & Klein, 2010). By identifying issues that impede providing these three elements, healthcare providers and organizations can utilize resources to address the issues and improve the patient’s health (McCarthy & Klein, 2010). Organizations can make a positive

The Stanford Health Services and UCSF medical center merger was projected to have a great turnout as it was supposed to be “enhanc[ing] the academic mission[s], strengthen[ing] referrals, and creat[ing] a more cost effective teaching hospital” (Sjoberg, 1999). The two competitors joined forces in hopes that it would alleviate the pressures of the new managed care systems by merging resources and acquiring more bargaining power. Stanford Medicine and UCSF came together at a time when many other academic health centers were looking to improve their negotiating powers with healthcare plans and physician groups. The merger offered hope to UCSF and Stanford by strengthening training programs and offering innovation plans as well as financial support.

From 1991 going forward, the health care environment again experienced fundamental changes as a result of the deregulation of hospitals which according to Ingols and Brem (as cited in Swayne, Duncan, and Ginter, 2006) was occurring for the first time in a decade. According to the authors, the impact of the move was immediate. Following the deregulation, the financial viability of most hospitals was

The future and direction of health care has been the topic of discussion amongst politician and U.S citizens today. There are several challenges surrounding the future and strategic direction in which health care should be heading. Accreditation, quality of health care and organization’s compliance; access to health care, maintaining a skilled workforce, information technology and pay for performance are some of the challenges that currently presenting itself in healthcare today. If health care is not dealt with appropriately it will have a significant effect an impact on the strategic direction in the future and direction of care.

Apart from the Affordable Care Act, there has been increased government and court involvement in the determination of how healthcare issues are run, like the recent denial of the nonprofit tax exemption status to some hospitals in Chicago (Bergen 2). These hospitals, which include the Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the Prentice Women’s Hospital, are known to provide important healthcare services to patients who cannot afford to pay the expensive costs in private hospitals (Bergen 2). These unfavorable healthcare policies among others are bound to be more frequent and the resultant problems may promote the emergence of other bigger ones unless immediate action is taken.

For several decades health care has been tied to the economy and with the current downturn we see continued efforts to control and reduce over-head costs. Health care organizations in their effort to become more efficient and address changes in the industry have altered their strategic business plans. Lee & Alexander (1999) researched organizational change in hospitals and their survival, in this paper I hope to discuss their findings and add other examples to validate their conclusions.

In the article, The Case of the Unhealthy Hospital, written by Anthony R. Kovner, a through description of a struggling hospital, Blake Memorial Hospital, is given. This paper is a SWOT analysis, and addresses the strengths and weaknesses within the hospital, as well as opportunities and threats outside of the hospital and in the surrounding community.