United Healthcare: A Case Study

Today, health care is one of the most the important subjects in United States. There are many Private and nonprofitmaking organization dedicated to health care. This paper discusses the readiness of Kaiser Permanente as a health care organization to respond the future health care needs of citizens. This paper also contains its strategic plan that addresses issues relating to network growth, nurse staffing, resource management and patient satisfaction.

The mission of UnitedHealthcare Group is to “help people live healthier lives” with access, quality and affordability. They are committed to continual improvement and the delivery of quality care by investing approximately $3 billion in business process improvements, research development, and technology within the past five years. In addition to reinvesting the revenues in innovative technologies, research and other improvements to better serves its consumers, UnitedHealthcare Group is also committed to social responsibility through employee involvement,

Shortly after that in 1995, United HealthCare attained the MetraHealth Companies Inc. for $1.65 billion. During 1998, the company undertook a momentous realignment of its operations into six independent, yet strategically linked businesses. Each of the companies were dedicated to meeting the health and well-being needs of a distinctive market segment. To accurately reflect the breadth and structure of this new company, the corporate organization, United HealthCare Corporation, was renamed UnitedHealth

Strategic Planning is an essential first step in the development of a result-base accountability system,” (Schilder, 2013, p. 1). In strategic planning an organization must know their goals, missions, and how to reach them. Health care facilities are in huge demand for the elderly and for people who lives in low-income communities. A person who receives good quality health care services can prevent the spread of contagious diseases. This paper will describe the need of the community, population it is serving, and a brief description of the facility.

Established in the 1930s by Henry J. Kaiser and Dr. Sidney as a health care program for construction, shipyard, and steel mill employees, in 1945 Kaiser Permanente (KP) opened enrollment to the public (Our History, 2016). Despite many challenges and setbacks, KP has grown to become one of the largest leading healthcare providers (SPEC Associates, 2011; "Labor Management," n.d.). However, is KP ready to meet the health care needs of citizens in the next decade? This paper will delve into KP to assess their readiness as well as their strategic plans regarding network growth, adequately staffing nurses, managing resources, and maintaining patient satisfaction.

Due to many changes in health service organizations’ internal and external environment, planning can be sometimes onerous (Longest & Darr, 2008, p. 366). Therefore, a well thought strategic plan will guide leaders and keep them focus on the organization’s mission. In health service organizations, strategic planning is emanated at the top level of the pyramid, then pass down to others in leadership positions (Longest & Darr, 2008, p. 366). A strategic planning process consists of many steps: a situational analysis, external environment analysis, internal environment analysis, strategy formulation, strategic implementation, and strategic control. As mentioned before, health service organization faced many challenges, a strategic planning not only helps with planning, controlling, and decision making, but it also allows management to analyze their strengths and weaknesses, as well as opportunities and threats. Again, the strategic planning process has proven to be effective when implemented by the entire organization.

In addition, UnitedHealth Group distributes Medicare prescription drug benefits (Part D) to recipients throughout the United States through its Medicare Advantage plan. It is also serving approximately Four million senior citizens through different Medicare Supplement products due to its collaboration with AARP.

Healthcare organizations do not contribute to the society’s welfare and impact the society positively therefore the relationship with the stakeholders is poor. With a poor relationship, this causes conflict between the patient and the doctor. Enough financial resources should be allocated to prevent quality of care issues and improve the quality of care to the patients. The moneys allocated can be used to purchase equipments that are beneficial to the care of the patients. There are many issues when it comes to the allocation of resources and should be cost effective to ensure the health benefits of those in the community that are being treated. If the allocations of the resources are not done correctly it can affect the community. Human resources should allocate financial resources to eliminate the shortage of doctors and nurses which has affected the performance and

The goal of universal healthcare is to ensure that every person in the world has access to basic affordable healthcare. The World Health Organization takes that concept a step further and has declared that healthcare is fundamental basic human right that should be equally provided for all people. The United States has been one of the last countries in the world to try to implement a universal healthcare

United Healthcare assesses that it services approximately 70 million Americans . Its entire system spans 676,287 physicians and health care professionals, 80,000 dentists and 5,190 hospitals, whilst their pharmaceutical management provides more affordable drugs to 13 million people.

UnitedHealth Group is a diversified health care company, and a worldwide leader in helping people live healthier lives and taking the necessary steps in making the health system work better for everyone. The UnitedHealth group serves more than 85 million individuals worldwide with health benefits and services. In 2012, they produced revenues of $110.6 billion and were ranked number 17 in the Fortune 500. The economic and political segments would rank the highest in influencing the UnitedHealth Group.

The UnitedHealth Group is a company that offers diversified health care management services. It is based in Minnesota in the United States of America. It is located at Minnetonka (UnitedHealth Group, 1974). It is ranked the 14th on the Fortune 500 List of the best companies and business enterprises in the world. UnitedHealth Group has two companies that offer their services and products to the consumers. The two business entities are Optum and UnitedHealthcare. It has approximated that it serves over 70 million people in the United States of America.

Under this approach, as an example, United averages on any given day about 27,000 members in an inpatient setting and another 14,000 members receiving services in a skilled nursing facility. These members are managed by 2,000 clinical employees working with attending physicians to achieve optimal quality outcomes and having proper discharge plans in place when members leave the facilities in order to prevent unnecessary readmissions. United also expects to make one million house calls and home visits for its Medicare members aimed at enhancing adherence in care plans and closing care gaps.

These health care organizations have two types of planning to follow, and they are tactical and strategic planning. When tactical planning takes place, there is a short term goal in mind (Society for Human Resource Management, 2102). The course of action for a tactical plan is to achieve a goal within a year or less time period (Society for Human Resource Management, 2102). A tactical plan has a smaller scope and shorter time span than a strategic plan (Society for Human Resource Management, 2102). It takes several tactical plans to achieve the strategic plan (Society for Human Resource Management, 2102). Strategic planning differs from tactical planning, because in strategic plan, the course of action is to achieve goals for the long term (Society for Human Resource Management, 2102). Strategic planning goals are usually wanted to be completed with five years (Society for Human Resource Management, 2102). The organization’s mission statement purpose and direction are reflected upon strategic planning (Society for Human Resource Management, 2102). Top management must view reports on operations, external environments and finances when looking to develop a strategic plan (Society for Human Resource Management, 2102). The development of tactical plans are influenced by strategic plans (Society for Human Resource Management, 2102).

The Fortune 500 company I chose is CVS Health. I chose this for a few different reasons. First, I recently had to visit the Minute Clinic in the CVS store twice within the last month. Secondly, I chose CVS because it is part of the health care initiative and I work for a healthcare company.