Roles and Functions

Roles and Functions

Amanda C Gluch

HCS/325

November 19, 2012

Susan Greenwood

Roles and Functions

Health care managers experience many opportunities and challenges throughout any given work day. Health care managers must stay focused on the changes, demands and the expectations of the organization they work for. Working in an organization, departments must run smooth and also be able to achieve goals and objectives; while working through challenges and the opportunities. There are four major functions of management in a health care setting. “All managers, regardless of title, level, type, and organizational setting are responsible for the four functions” (Lombardi & Schermerhorn, 2007, p. 16); they are organizing, planning, controlling and leading.

Organizing for a health care manager is having the ability to orchestrate tasks, people and other resources to accomplish what is needed to be done. Planning is being able to set performance objectives and to decide how to get them accomplished. Controlling is being able to measure work performance and then taking action where performances are lacking. Leading as a health care manager is motivation people to work their hardest to achieve the best or highest performance levels. All four of these functions are important to a health care manager because he or she will end up using them together. Managers are responsible for these functions, but do not accomplish the functions in a linear step-by-step fashions, they tend to overlap functions (Lombardi & Schermerhorn, 2007).

Out of all four functions, the most important function is organizing. By being organized a health care manager will have an easier time keeping each department running smoothly and able to implement the plans that were set for each department. Not being organized can cause for things to become hectic and a high possibility of the organization losing money. Without organizing, individuals and teams wouldn’t know what is expected of them...