The Case of the Unhealthy Hospital

Case number and name. Case #8, The Case of the Unhealthy Hospital

B. Assessment

* Vision: N/A

* Mission: To improve the quality of patient care at Blake Memorial and set their financial house in order.

* Goals/Objectives: Finalize hospital budget for board approval that meets financial and community demands.

* Expectations / external stakeholders: Community, Director of Health Services, city/region (contributions may go away if clinics close) and politicians.

* Expectations / internal stakeholders: All staff and the board of directors.

* Past performance: $1.1M operations cost at a loss of $256,000.

* Current performance: N/A

* Internal strengths: None

* Internal weaknesses: Poor quality of care, increasing operating debt and costs, poor location, a high percentage of Medicaid low-scale reimbursement, forceful physician demands, and potential physician defection.

* External influences and their impact: Politicians and city resources such as the Director of Health Services essential in cooperation, funding, and access to resources to improve hospital reputation, operations, and revenue.

* Competition: St. Barnabas Hospital, which has superior facilities and technology.

* Ethical concerns or considerations based on ACHE code of ethics: St. Barnabas allegedly offered financial incentives to city Marksville physicians in exchange for patient referrals.

C. Identify problems and issues

* What is the critical or primary issue? Poor quality of care, a decrease in quality staff doctors, and an increase in operating costs.

* What are the contributing factors? Facilities, equipment, and technology are subpar and require upgrading; hospital needs a state-of-the-art operating room to increase revenue-generating services; and a decline in community resources and abilities has resulted in cut funding and a loss of non-Medicaid patients.

D. Develop alternatives...