New Merger : A New Vision, Mission, And Values Statement

In the case that was presented in this week’s case study, the focus was placed on St. Michael’s Health Centre, the CEO of 7 years, Kevin Cowan, and the transformative culture due to a change of leadership styles. Prior to Cowan’s reign as CEO the work environment was hostile, unproductive and combative. The efficiency was at an all-time low and was hemorrhaging money at an accelerated rate. During Cowan’s time at St. Michael’s Health Centre (SMHC), he was able to encourage the repair of broken relationships, raise morale and transformed the business into a working and successful one. The stakeholders involved covers a wide range; the most obvious being the employees of St. Michael’s Health Centre and the customers they serve, but it also influenced the health care unions, Chinook Health Region (CHR) employees, the media and the family and friends of patients being cared by SMHC. With the increase of employee morale, one can also argue that those affected would also reach the family and friends of SMHC’s employees and the community as a whole.

Following an organization announcement in 2015, the healthcare system was divided into four divisions headed by a leadership team of 5 that oversee all the divisions. The second division consists of the 3 regional hospitals associated with the New York Presbyterian system. Often hospitals associated with a healthcare system are hospitals waiting on approval from the city and HCOs involved. The 3rd division consists of NY-Presbyterian physician services. Lastly, the fourth division consists of all the health services that make up the health care system’s community and population health. These services include ambulatory care network sites and healthcare initiatives. As a Highly Reliable Organization, New York Presbyterian keeps track of multiple trends to shift and shape it’s organization for today’s always changing and complex healthcare industry. Through the tracking of consumer healthcare decisions, New York-Presbyterian uses this data to adjust its practices and policies to help patients make the best medical decisions and provide the highest quality of care. Positioned in one of the biggest metropolitan areas in the world, New York-Presbyterian keeps track of it’s competition by monitoring the consolidations of healthcare organizations within their market share. Through this monetization, the healthcare system prioritize its marketing strategy that allows them to sell the unique

On paper, the merger between these two institutions made sense – both institutions were close to one another and competing for diminishing resources. Together they could reduce administrative costs and join forces to negotiate with large insurance companies. The need to create a new culture and dissolve historically existent power struggles were two large tasks that needed to be addressed in order to ensure a successful merger. However, the way in which the merger was organized did not lead to a successful merger. UCSF Health Care did not spend adequate time creating a shared culture in which the two organizations would see one joint organization with shared power (resources).

Founded in 1946, Seattle’s Group Health Cooperative was created by doctors and community members who believed that there needed to be a health care program that was affordable, member centered, and held principles of social justice. This cooperative was one that had been successful for many years, but just recently was acquired by the not for profit Kaiser Permanente health-care company on February 1, 2017 for 1.8 billion dollars. Although Group Health is a cooperative and Kaiser Permanente is a nonprofit healthcare company, they have similar views on how they run their companies because both have missions to put their members and employees first. This is something that the articles stressed because this merge is going to affect thousands of members and employees. I plan on focusing on the process Kaiser Permanente had when wanting to take over Group Health Cooperative, the pros and cons of the final decision to merge the two healthcare programs, and ultimately how Group Health’s marketing and management strategies will be implemented in the merge. (12)

This week’s case looks at the critical situation occurring at Riverview Regional Medical Center located in Etowah County, Alabama. The medical center, located near a strong competitor, is run by a veteran in the hospital management market, Mr Matt Hayes. Hayes is actively in the process of developing new ideas and revolutionary steps in an attempt to remain competitive in the market and regain profitability. The overall performance of Riverview Regional Medical Center appears to have decreased throughout multiple departments except outpatient surgical procedures, outpatient CT imagining, MRI imagining and inpatient MRI scans.

Baylor Scott & White Medical Center-Marble Falls (BSWMC-MF) represents one of two facilities and numerous clinics which make up the Hill Country Region of Baylor Scott & White Health (BSWH) Central Texas Division. BSWMC-MF values interprofessional shared decision-making and uses multiple methods to include all members of the healthcare team in the process.

a. NOT: Baylor Hospital felt that this pre-paid health plan would lower its operating costs

From a strategic perspective, in order to address its organizational needs, EMC stands a better chance if anchored to a larger, more financially and structurally sound medical entity through the option of a merger. Benefits would include gaining increased bargaining power, the improved ability to retain its best and brightest, a “longer reach” in attracting quality personnel from all around the state or the country at large and a better position from which to compete for customers.

In the healthcare field, there are forces that drive practice and develop change within an organization. There are both internal and external forces in which not one organization is immune to (Kotter, 1996). By establishing a vision of the company, a sense of purpose and direction is created, working towards change within the forces (Huyer, 2014). When people participate in a vision, they work towards a common goal and identify what needs to be changed in order to reach that vision. In this paper, a presentation of Banner Health will be discussed, along with its mission and stakeholders, driving forces, viability, as well as an analysis of forces, a response to change, a vision for change, and an evaluation of change.

Some hospitals have merged with other healthcare organizations in hopes of providing a more integrated delivery system. However, delivery in many organizations is still quite fragmented leaving many US citizens dissatisfied. According to a 2011 survey conducted by the Commonwealth Fund;

Unfortunately, a lot of things went wrong in the UCSF and Stanford merger which ultimately cost them tens of millions of dollars. For instance, they were projected to save almost $300 million by 2020, when in reality they lost almost $90 million in two years’ time. It didn’t help that reimbursement rates were down at the time and patients were starting to move to lower paying plans. One notable problem from the start was that USHC continued to hire and ended up with 1000 new employees. Additionally, the IT costs for the year 2000 were astronomical to say the least, and the merger expenses were double than what

Delivering excellent care for health maintenance and acute illness, which meets quality, safety and patient experience standards, while reducing costs is the focus of health care organizations across the country (Kara, Johnson, Nicley, & Niemeier, 2015; IHI, 2016). Healthcare organizations are under deep scrutiny by public and government sectors to meet the IHI Triple Aim to improve patient experience, improve the health of populations and reduce cost of health care (IHI, 2016). However, these sectors use different measures to evaluate the effectiveness of healthcare organizations. Carolinas Healthcare System, which consists of over 900 care locations, including thirty-three hospitals within North and South Carolina, works to meet the Triple Aim and be viewed by the public and governmental sectors as a healthy organization. The question is how does one measure the health of an organization? Is Carolinas Healthcare System an example of a healthy organization, one that integrates leadership principles and concepts, utilizing fiscal responsibility within the organization’s climate, culture and behaviors? Or, is Carolinas Healthcare System an organization without a mission, vision, goals or strategic plan, on the brink of failure and without public and governmental approval?

This case study looks at the challenges faced by Matt Hayes, executive director of Riverview Regional Medical Center (RRMC). Previously named as “The Holy Name of Jesus Hospital”, the facility was owned and operated by Catholic nuns. The Hospital Management Associates (HMA) bought the facility in August 1991 and modify the name to Riverview Regional Medical Center. Hospitals that were taken over by HMA upgraded to state-of-the-art facilities that provided high quality medical care. RRMC run numerous private practices throughout the city and shared common medical staff with their chief opponent, Gadsden Regional Medical Center (GRMC). However, the common staff from the Emergency and Radiology department were not shared. Over the past years, RRMC has been facing multiple challenges concerning the different services provided by the facility (Swayne, Duncan, & Ginter, 2013).

Cost is the driver that will most likely cause healthcare organizations to merge. Most healthcare organizations have issues with spending. Most industries today are faced with a variety of obstacles in achieving or remaining profitable. The healthcare industry is no exception. Profitability is enough of a challenge under normal circumstances, but especially so during fragile economic times. Uncertain revenue streams and rising costs have many healthcare organizations understandably apprehensive.

The best health care systems in the world offer integrated care. Systems like the Mayo Clinic and Geisinger Health System own hospitals and labs and employ all the physicians and nurses a patient is likely to see, so they can easily integrate a patient’s care. In contrast, patients in North Carolina and throughout America typically obtain their care from a variety of independent providers. Health care expenses are paid by a variety of sources including private insurers, employers, the government and patients themselves. But unlike any other state, or even any large geographic area, North Carolina has the capacity to create a “virtually” integrated system, one that can provide the same integrated care but across an entire state. When patients’ transition between providers and health care settings, the result is often poor health outcomes, medical errors and costly duplication of tests and procedures. Through partnerships with other organizations and providers, NCHQA is seeking ways to better coordinate care and address systemic problems that cause dangerous and costly gaps in care. (NCHQA, 2014)