Life in the 21st century means having an opportunity to get excellent medical help whenever it may be needed. Science and medicine have immensely progressed over the past century and continue to make immense advancements in the field of combating almost all diseases. Illnesses that have once been deemed incurable are now successfully treated. The profession of a medical worker remains one of the most prestigious, yet demanding at the same time. Developed countries like the USA are well known for providing patients with access to professional medical care and doctors with decent workplaces. Therefore, new clinics are to be opened. The paper will deal with issues concerning the opening process of the new health care facility. The new health care facility to be discussed in this paper is a cancer center for diagnosing and treating patients with all kinds of cancers as well as for the ones who undergo the period of transition to the survivorship mode and try to accommodate to the post-survival period.
Organize a mission, vision, and values statement for the new entity
Our cancer center joins the nationwide mission of all similar health care facilities that consists in the following: “to eliminate cancer in the state, the nation, and the world through outstanding programs” aimed at combining superb patient care, innovative research, and effective prevention (MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2013). Our ultimate mission is to get rid of cancer and destroy the myth about low rates of its curability. Our health care facility is among the few American healthcare providers that have decided to join and be committed to the principles of the United Nations Global Impact. It is a sign of our progressive and innovative outlook as, for instance, Cleveland Clinic was the only medical institution that was a “signatory to the Compact in 2008”.
Our vision is to be the leading cancer center in the USA and in the world thanks to our highly professional and experienced doctors, participation in various innovative researches, and also premier oncology nursing. Our cancer center management is driven by several core values that underlie everything we do. These are innovation, excellence of care, quality, integrity, and service. Innovation is essential for successful treatment of cancer with minimal threat for the patients’ well-being and with maximum efficiency of treatment methods. Moreover, our medical workers are encouraged to participate in various researches of new cancer treatment methods and techniques of assisting patients in adapting to the survivorship stage. Excellent nursing plays the key role in our facility as the psycho-social, physical, and emotional influence of cancer creates special needs for patients and their families. Quality is the most basic and most useful value we aspire in order to implement in all aspects of our work. We maintain the highest standards of our work and suppose that the integrity of the center staff is a huge asset of achieving our goal. Confidentiality, honesty, respect, transparence, and trust are integral elements of our health care facility. Service implies that our staff strives to excel in providing patients with comfort, convenience, and care.
Provide a detailed organizational chart for the new facility
Prior to opening the cancer center, it should be thoroughly planned in terms of its construction, equipment, and management. The stage of construction and equipment may be best described by the healthcare facilities development services organizational-reporting-flow chart (Appendix A). The owner supervises and controls the entire process of the development and is reported by all regulatory, design, and construction entities as well as by healthcare facilities development services. Successful treatment of cancer depends to a great extent on the availability of various items of modern and innovative equipment for diagnosis, treatment, cure, and the rest of patients. Besides, supersonic equipment enables the conduct of researches that may be a breakthrough in the domain of cancer treatment, diagnosis, and prevention.
There are different organizational structures that underlie the work of a health care facility. In the broad sense, organizational structure is “the way in which the component units of the organization are related to one another to accomplish the goals of the organization”. In other words, organizational chart helps to understand how the facility operates and how decisions are made. The main organizational structure of the cancer center is the pyramid one that has been successfully deployed in many hospitals of the country. The organizational structure pyramid contains the following elements board, administrative services, informational services, therapeutic services, diagnostic services, and support services. Our facility follows the recent trend in the health care system in terms of “modernizing the pyramid structure by flattening it”. This way, we strive to enhance the level of our organizational success by expanding the scope of control in order to allow certain important decisions to be made independently by the representatives of lower levels of the structure.
In the beginning, our cancer center is going to be able to accommodate 100 patients. As a rule, a 100-bed health care facility has one COO or a single assistant administrator as well as a chief financial officer and a chief nursing officer. The middle management group includes the department level of management carrying out four main types of functions like nursing functions, ancillary services, business or fiscal functions and support services. The organizational chart of our health care facility is presented in Appendix C. On the whole, it follows the traditional system pattern of similar facilities as it is designed to provide the quality health care. Thus, the director of the center will be assisted by such boards, departments, and committees as the fundraising and patient advocacy boards, external scientific advisory committee, executive committee, translational research department, basic science department, clinical science departments, clinical investigations department, financial department, legal department, nursing department, laboratory, and human resources department. Thus, nursing department will be of primary importance as cancer patients and survivors need special attention and care as the result of peculiar effects of the disease. For instance, nurses are going to be responsible for providing the smooth transition to the survivorship mode and will help patients to deal with stressors. Besides, nurses will play a vital role in implementing innovative approaches like the “multimodal exercise program” and multimedia support aimed at reducing cancer-related fatigue in cancer survivors.
Compile procedures that govern the hospital-physician and physician-patient relationship including negligence and liability issues
Hospital-physicians relationships are traditionally assessed as the ones containing a lot of conflicts, mainly because of the quality of nursing and lack of response to equipment requests. The equipment issue will hardly be a problem in the new cancer center as the senior management will do its best to provide medical workers with all necessary items. Furthermore, the quality of nursing is going to be ensured by the human resources department obliged to hire only qualified and certified workers. Trust and mutual understanding will be the core values as well as team work and respect. All communication between executives and physicians will be strived to be carried out face-to-face rather than through written directories. Building personal connections and creating a friendly atmosphere are two key objectives for all workers. Younger physicians will be given a voice as they often offer fresh approaches to old problems.
However, some problems and tensions are inevitable
From time to time, all hospitals face negligence and liability cases. The major task of the senior management is to ensure that these cases are effectively dealt with, and the facility does not face any severe consequences. Negligence instances will be thoroughly investigated. If a physician is proved to be not guilty, the facility will do its best to support him/her while still making sure that the patient receives required medical help. Additionally, scandals and court proceedings are to be avoided at any cost as they may ruin the reputation of the new facility and avert patients from seeking its medical assistance. Nowadays, “the courts are increasingly willing to hold hospitals liable for injuries suffered within their walls”. Therefore, professional lawyers are to be employed in order to resolve conflicts arising from hospital-patient relationships. Besides, physicians may be hired as independent contractors, thus minimizing the hospital’s liability in cases of negligence. In order to prevent negligence instances, our cancer center will introduce the two tiers of the credentialing and privileging process of all medical workers. “Tier one” is the verification of primary credentials and competence while “tier two” is the delineation of privileges, appointment, and reappointment. Implementing strict control of the workers’ competence is essential taking into account the fact that the liability of hospitals has recently increased under “the theory of direct corporate negligence”.
Describe referral services that will be offered
The health care facility will create an efficient information and referral services department. Being a specialized center for cancer, our health care facility will be mostly the recipient of referral services provided by other hospitals. However, we are ready to provide our patients and their families with information about existing cancer treatment programs exploited in other clinics. Moreover, we are ready to offer referral services for cancer survivors who would like to receive professional psychological help. Our center is going to cooperate with other health care facilities in order to ensure that patients receive the medical help they need. We are ready to offer advice and support to lower-level health facilities and to develop joint research projects with all willing centers. Cooperation with some referral hospitals seems to be beneficial as well.
Create a peer review system
Creating a peer-review system is important for being able to identify strengths and weaknesses of the facility and to improve the services. At the initial stages of the center functioning, it seems reasonable to work with specialists in the peer review system like the National Peer Review Corporation. The NPRC Hospital System Peer Review Evaluation is an “an objective, external analysis” that seems to be an ideal option for the new facility as it helps to monitor the quality of provided care.
Provide a synopsis of how HMO insurance will be handled
HMO insurance is becoming increasingly popular with citizens as it can deliver “more efficient, more affordable, better-coordinated care”, yet the choices about the care may be limited in turn. The new health care facility is definitely going to participate in various HMO networks as it is profitable. Some researchers have evidenced that hospitals tend to compete for “HMO business”. Our center is going to differentiate itself on the basis of non-price attributes while being competitive in regards to price as well. Furthrmore, our patients will be able to receive detailed information about the HMOs our center participates in and which specialist they can turn to. It will be the task of the information department. Besides, HMOs often do not cover the entire cost of some procedures and doctors or nurses will be obliged to inform patients in such cases. Patients will be encouraged to check their HMO’s requirements prior to making an appointment with any specialist.
Conclusion
Opening a new health care facility is a long process that demands much preparation and efforts, yet the results may be astonishing as successful functioning of the modern cancer center may save the lives of thousands of people. Some problems with the construction and opening of the facility are inevitable. However, all challenges can be tackled of the clinic staff is dedicated to the proclaimed mission and strives to implement the vision through the core values. The excellence of health care is the primary target for any medical institution. Besides, if some problems arise, external professional assistance and advice are always possible to obtain. The main requirement is the desire to help people and readiness to work hard.
