[Solved] Case 14: Cooper Green Hospital and the Community Care Plan

Cooper Green Hospital

Cooper Green Hospital (CGH) aims to offer first-class health care to the citizens of Jefferson County, irrespective of their capacity to pay. The facility has a considerable role in serving the residents, but the characteristics of attending to the uninsured and indigent segment in the community have led the services to be worse, as Martha James experienced (Capper, Ginter, & Swayne, 2002). For this reason, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Max Michael, launched the Community Care Plan (CCP). The program offer access to routine and preventive medical services to uninsured and needy patients in the county. Nonetheless, CCP has not attained the service and financial goals that were set for it because the system is underutilized.

Why the Components of the System are Under-Utilized

Many patients, such as Martha James, had not signed up for CCP. Her case shows that potential members had not decided to join CCP because they had no idea that they had the option, what the program entailed, and the benefits it provided. In that sense, poor marketing and communication are some of the reasons the components of the system are utilized. Apart from the promotional issue, Martha’s case shows that indigent persons failed to seek prompt healthcare and opted for the ER whenever they became sick for fear of the high costs (Capper et al., 2002). Moreover, clinics in regions that were violent experienced low growth as a result of challenges, such as poor communication, gang violence, problems delivering medical care to impoverished people, and education. There were also troubles in coordination efforts between CGH and CCP. For instance, some challenges revolved around staff training and education for all clinical staff concerning the function and purpose of CCP. Finally, communication of employee suggestions, issues, and concerns became more complex as CCP grew.

Steps to Attract a Greater Mix of Paying Patients and Increase Utilization of the Services

The first approach that Cooper Green Hospital needs to take to increase the utilization of CCP and attract a higher mix of paying patients is to form market alliances/entry with other providers, such as the health department. The possible organizational advantages of this approach include mutual support and group synergy, opportunities to gain and learn new opportunities, and growth (Lewis, Tierney, Colla, & Shortell, 2017). It also leads to personnel benefits, such as management capabilities and improved recruitment. Lastly, it encompasses economic benefits, including gaining resources or sharing risk. The second step that the facility can take is to adopt value-adding support. The strategy will offer a powerful means to create a competitive advantage and change the organization. In brief, the activities of value-adding support present the context or environment to do the work while the structure, culture, and strategic resources (technology, information, human, and financial) provide the means for attaining marketing and operations.

Thirdly, since the coordinating efforts between CGH and CCP have developed slowly, the institution should create a strategic information system that is timely, relatively accurate, and pertinent to make a competitive advantage. Equally, the administrative information will support segments such as outpatient clinic scheduling, financial information systems, facilities and material management, office automation, billing, and payroll. Finally, CGH can utilize the Product/Market Expansion Grid, also called Ansoff Matrix, to analyze its growth plan (Gurcaylilar-Yenidogan & Aksoy, 2018). The tool offers the following four output options: diversification, formation of merchandise, improvement of the market, and infiltration of the market. Thus, the tool clarifies thinking concerning the brand position and market dimensions to help plot a suitable strategy.

Conclusion

In summary, CCP is significantly underutilized. Arguably, this is evident from the fact that individuals living near the institutions still have to travel great distances to reach the clinic, although they could have gained the same care there. The idea by Dr. Michael was a noble one. Despite the troubles endured by CGH, Dr. Michael appears to be consistently loyal to the inspiration of CCP. Thus, the facility needs to take steps, such as forming market alliance/ entry, value-adding support, strategic information systems, and Ansoff Matrix to efficiently operate a clinic and hospital that officers first-class services to Jefferson County.

References

Capper, S. A., Ginter, P. M., & Swayne, L. E. (2002). Public health leadership and management: Cases and context. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Gurcaylilar-Yenidogan, T., & Aksoy, S. (2018). Applying Ansoff’S Growth Strategy Matrix to innovation classification. International Journal of Innovation Management, 22(04), 1850039. doi: 10.1142/s1363919618500391

Lewis, V. A., Tierney, K. I., Colla, C. H., & Shortell, S. M. (2017). The new frontier of strategic alliances in health care: New partnerships under accountable care organizations. Social Science & Medicine, 190, 1–10. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.04.054