Healthcare Assignment: Strategic Proposal For United Heath Group To Combat Covid-19

Question

Task:
Students are to write a 1500-word strategic proposal for an executive team of the chosen organization whereby you are attempting to convince that team of what you believe they should be doing over the next five years in an effort to be more successful. Healthcare Assignment Description:

Building on all of your learning in this subject, students are required to develop a 5-year strategic plan that could be used to resource and operationalize the activities of a privately or publicly owned healthcare enterprise of your choice. The intent is for students to demonstrate an understanding of all of the environmental factors influencing that organization in its current and future competitive environment and formulate strategies that will ensure its ongoing success over the next five years. A useful starting point may be to evaluate the strategic successes and failures (if any) of that organization over the past five years.

Answer

Introduction

The organization chosen in the context of healthcare assignment is United heath group inc. The organization is a pioneer in the healthcare sector as a multinational based in Minnesota and it offers healthcare products and insurance services. The report would be discussing the strategic issues in the organization due to covid 19 pandemic and the strategies associated to combat or mitigate them.

Strategic issues facing the organization in relation to covid 19

Healthcare facilities are one-of-a-kind and intricate in nature. Global healthcare is divided into public and private institutions. Healthcare practitioners face a variety of obstacles on a daily basis. When COVID-19 appeared out of nowhere, it put the healthcare system under additional strain (Amin & Palter, 2021). The healthcare conundrum was transformed by the pandemic, which brought new employment and societal problems to healthcare workers.

Organizations like United Healthcare in healthcare are adapting to changes in demographics, epidemiology, and society in the face of multiple contexts, problems, and uncertainty (Leite, Hodgkinson & Gruber, 2020). In order to respond to a variety of ongoing and current concerns, healthcare workers need a wide range of capabilities, from physicians and clinicians to nursing and ambulances to administrators and managers ("Welcome to UnitedHealth Group", 2022). Various improvements in technology, social interaction, political power and environmental consequences have exacerbated the complexity of global health care.

With more than $101 million in assistance, UnitedHealth Group is making a significant contribution in the struggle against COVID-19 by utilising its clinical experience and competencies (Jalali, Landman & Gordon, 2021). The health, security, and confidence of the public and communities in which they operate – including their devoted team of 341,000 individuals and the heroic individuals of the medical care workforce – and the dependability and durability of healthcare organisations have been their single goal from the inception.

Globally, the Health Organisation has noted that there is a critical shortage of qualified healthcare workers who can meet the growing demand ("Welcome to UnitedHealth Group", 2022). There were some changes and advances in the international health profession, but differences remain because of the various customised healthcare concerns of the various medical systems (Leite, Hodgkinson & Gruber, 2020). There are still significant differences. Intellectual capital is a common problem, although the skill set, uneven dispersion of human medical resources across geographic areas, demanding inter-professional partnerships, imprudent use of funds and burnout differences vary between nations. In the face of this catastrophe, doctors and other primary medical workers were forced to take on the role of trailblazers, redefining the healthcare conundrum. Medical and nursing healthcare personnel were hailed as 'corona fighters' by the authorities and the community after coronavirus sickness was declared an outbreak (Jalali, Landman & Gordon, 2021). Using broadcast to build morale, presenting general practitioners professionals with flowers, and naming them as "corona fighters" were effective, but the real struggle was yet to come ("Welcome to UnitedHealth Group", 2022). Molecular labs were suddenly needed to perform RT-PCR testing, which necessitated hiring specialists with the appropriate training and allocating funding for their execution (Zhang et al., 2021). First, obtaining standard kits from domestic and international suppliers proved difficult. Expert interpretations and professional authorization were necessary for everything from the technical aspects to performances, and ever since then, things have become increasingly unpleasant for everybody (Amin & Palter, 2021). The personal, family, and interpersonal relationships of the healthcare workers were being severely strained. Some of the sociological qualities that were observed included stress, work-life balancing and higher costs.

Violent crimes committed in response to the COVID-19 epidemic are accompanied by an increase in stigmatisation and discriminatory policies directed at anyone suspected of coming into touch with the disease (Jalali, Landman & Gordon, 2021). Medical resources, clients, health care workers and their close relatives are at significantly higher risk of encountering damage due to the false idea that they had become carriers of disease in a society.

COVID-19 disinformation has a significant part in developing these ideas and behaviours around the world. The ‘infodemic’ of misleading knowledge about the treatment exasperates fear of transmission, misunderstandings and misunderstandings about the disease (Rangachari & Woods, 2020). Healthcare professionals are progressively being viewed as a threat to society rather than a remedy to the global health crisis as a result of growing distrust in the industry. Many health care professionals have described being bad mouthed, labelled "contagious rats," beaten on public transportation, and their possessions destroyed by other passengers.

Analysis of the approaches adopted by other organizations from the same health sector in relation to covid 19

The World health organization (WHO) has issued certain strategies to ensure the healthcare, 

1. Personal protection equipment (PPE) training should be provided to all healthcare professionals (PPE) (Zhang et al., 2021).
2. Incorporating strategies to optimise safety equipment (PPE), such as extending N95 breathing apparatus use, reserving them for aerosol-generating processes, creating elongated use PPE components where only clients with COVID-19 receive care, and instituting a walk-up checking stall that allows HCPs to stand underneath solid but truthful (e.g., polycarbonate) boards to collect the data for COVID-19 diagnostics (Rangachari & Woods, 2020).
3. The CDC, the Health And human Services, and the American Academy of Pediatrics have all issued guidelines like these for the care of the patient with COVID-19.

The Communicable diseases association of America has taken the following steps,

1. Discharging a patient with probable or diagnosed COVID-19 from the institution to their residence or to a long-duration treatment center with knowledge of the guidelines for doing so.
2. When possible, using telecommunicational-health techniques to deliver high-quality patient care while reducing the spread of COVID-19 in the medical environment (Prasad et al., 2021). Think about putting together a phone hotline to help you sort out potential COVID-19 clients' questions and complaints.

Business model proposal

The United health organization would be able to benefit most in these times with respect to a patient consultation model. This model would feature mental health professionals talking and conveying specifics of the treatment to the clients (Harrison et al., 2020). Most clients in the COVID unit and following their recuperation from the virus experience mental health concerns, despite the fact that the virus somehow doesn't cause serious symptoms and therefore does not necessitate life support, this model of consultation would facilitate them getting a complete and vicarious treatment (Contreras et al., 2020). Following through this model, it is recommended that all people who have been infected with COVID-19 receive psychological support. Mental health specialists (MHPs) have been stationed in the COVID ward in various departments of the United Health because of the seriousness of the mental health outcomes of COVID-19 illnesses (Dehnavieh & Kalavani, 2020). Following this model, individuals with the COVID-19 infection are assessed by MHPs in the COVID ward, but these treatments are also available by phone or online chatting in other locations. Nevertheless, the MHPS is unable to conduct mental health assessments on every patient on the COVID unit because to the sheer number of people involved. Because MHPs are required to wear personal protection equipment 24 hours a day, this is not a cost-effective strategy (PPEs), which would be a place where the model needs to be improvised (Zhang et al., 2021). In the absence of face-to-face connection, a therapeutic alliance cannot be fully formed when personal protective equipment (PPEs) is used (Kaye et al., 2021). It also necessitates an enormous amount of time and effort from MHPs, which introduces them to the danger of infection as well. The provision of mental health services is further restricted to a few hrs a day if MHPs were all on duty for a few rotations (Prasad et al., 2021). However, in this model, while giving care over the phone or via videoconference, it is not always possible to reach every patient, particularly those in Intensive care unit, still, the model makes it a more successful endeavour than the most for those who are in a state of disorientation and need immediate attention (Dehnavieh & Kalavani, 2020). The patient consultation model must be developed that can enhance mental health treatment for individuals with COVID-19 clients without subjecting all MHPs to the danger of infection by COVID-19, because both approaches have their own limits.

Strategies to be adopted by the organization

The model taken into consideration is the patient consultation model,

Situational Understanding using Data Streams.

Continuing to keep tabs on the state, municipality, and facility's COVID-19 condition would help the model. Give individuals with COVID-19 accessibility to evidence-oriented care.

Facility policies and procedures.

1. Becoming familiar with outbreak, COVID-19-associated, and crisis quality of practice to improve their facility's access to different processes (Kaye et al., 2021). Think about utilising the COVID-19 worksheet to anticipate and react to the increase in consumption for health services (Harrison et al., 2020).
2. Implementing or enacting strategies for grouping individuals with COVID-19 and designating a specific team to care for them.

Arresting staffing issues to facilitate the consultation model

Minimizing staffing issues and determining the need for appropriate treatment venues, such as an urgent medical centre. Developing plans to address these issues are required for the model to facilitate.

Telecommunications.

Their HCP, customers, and the society will benefit from a well-thought-out communications plan (Dehnavieh & Kalavani, 2020). Considering including online town hall meetings, daily huddles with community leaders, calls with partnerships, newsletters and phone conversations for staff, press briefs, and others into your communications strategy.

Strategic objectives and recommendations

Vision

The vision of the organization is to provide quality healthcare treatment and consultation to the patients while assisting them in maintaining great standards in terms of developing policies and regulations for the welfare of the employees and other staffs who are the maintain stakeholders working for the greater good.

References

Amin, D. P., & Palter, J. S. (2021). COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy among healthcare personnel in the emergency department deserves continued attention. The American journal of emergency medicine, 48, 372. 

Contreras, C. M., Metzger, G. A., Beane, J. D., Dedhia, P. H., Ejaz, A., & Pawlik, T. M. (2020). Telemedicine: patient-provider clinical engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery, 24(7), 1692-1697. 

Dehnavieh, R., & Kalavani, K. (2020). Management-supportive measures for managers of healthcare organizations during the COVID-19 epidemic. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 41(7), 878-878. 

Harrison, S. L., Fazio-Eynullayeva, E., Lane, D. A., Underhill, P., & Lip, G. Y. (2020). Comorbidities associated with mortality in 31,461 adults with COVID-19 in the United States: A federated electronic medical record analysis. PLoS medicine, 17(9), e1003321. 

Jalali, M. S., Landman, A., & Gordon, W. J. (2021). Telemedicine, privacy, and information security in the age of COVID-19. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 28(3), 671-672. 

Kaye, A. D., Okeagu, C. N., Pham, A. D., Silva, R. A., Hurley, J. J., Arron, B. L., ... & Cornett, E. M. (2021). Economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare facilities and systems: International perspectives. Best Practice & Research Clinical Anaesthesiology, 35(3), 293-306. 

Leite, H., Hodgkinson, I. R., & Gruber, T. (2020). New development:‘Healing at a distance’—telemedicine and COVID-19. Healthcare assignment Public Money & Management, 40(6), 483-485. 

Prasad, K., McLoughlin, C., Stillman, M., Poplau, S., Goelz, E., Taylor, S., ... & Sinsky, C. A. (2021). Prevalence and correlates of stress and burnout among US healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A national cross-sectional survey study. EClinicalMedicine, 35, 100879. 

Rangachari, P., & L Woods, J. (2020). Preserving organizational resilience, patient safety, and staff retention during COVID-19 requires a holistic consideration of the psychological safety of healthcare workers. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(12), 4267. 

Welcome to UnitedHealth Group. Unitedhealthgroup.com. (2022). Retrieved 3 February 2022, from https://www.unitedhealthgroup.com/. 

Zhang, S. X., Chen, J., Afshar Jahanshahi, A., Alvarez-Risco, A., Dai, H., Li, J., & Patty-Tito, R. M. (2021). Succumbing to the COVID-19 pandemic—healthcare workers not satisfied and intend to leave their jobs. International journal of mental health and addiction, 1-10.