Post 14: Final Reflection

Welcome to my last blog post! As I am wrapping up this semester in Managing Healthcare Organizations, I decided it would be fitting to write my last post on some of the most valuable things I have learned in this class.

One of the most valuable portions of this class were the guest speakers. Having guest speakers was not only a good opportunity for networking, but they taught me a lot about what goes on in the “real world.” They all work in different areas of healthcare and showed me how many opportunities there are for me to go into when I graduate. I learned so much about the different areas it takes to run a healthcare organization and why they are all crucial to keeping the organization afloat.

Another one of the most valuable things I learned from this class (which I talked about in my last post) was being able to grow as a participant in group projects and develop my ability to work effectively with other people that have varying opinions. This is a skill I will continue to develop throughout my college years and my career, and will be something I will use for the rest of my life.

I also learned a lot about the healthcare industry itself, and what it takes to be a successful leader overall. Here are some the key things I have taken away when learning what it takes to be a successful leader:

1.     Don’t be carpet administrator. Professor Bonica spoke to us about this concept at the beginning of the course and it has really stuck with me because I think it is a really important thing to remember. Being in a healthcare organization especially, it is important to make sure that you are always engaging with your employees and making them feel like you are approachable and care about what is going on in the organization on a daily basis.

2.     Healthcare in a team sport. The relationships you have with the people you work with are incredibly important and you will never get anything done if you try and do it completely on your own.

3.     The only thing constant about healthcare is that it will change. Being a leader in healthcare means that you need to be able to adapt to whatever changes are thrown your way, because there will be a lot.

4.     Always remember to look at the bigger picture. It can be easy to become overwhelmed with the everyday stresses that one faces at work, but it is important to always remember at the end of the day why you are doing what you are doing. Working in healthcare is incredibly rewarding and it is crucial to remind yourself how the work you are doing is helping people. When you feel passionate about the work you are doing, your employees will feed that, and it will create a better atmosphere in your organization.

I will carry all of these lessons with me as I move on in my career in healthcare.

Last but not least, I want to thank the people that took the time to read my blogs throughout the semester. Your comments have been greatly appreciated and your suggested articles and websites have been incredibly insightful. Thank you for taking the time to read what I have written and providing such thoughtful feedback.

Post 13: Group Projects

As I am beginning to wrap up this semester, I've been thinking about some of the most valuable things that I have learned over the past couple of months. I have learned so much about healthcare in the United States and all of the stuff my textbooks and professors have taught me. However, when I look back at this semester, I think about how I have really developed in my ability to work in a group. In all of my classes, we have been required to do multiple group projects. At the beginning of the semester in these groups, I found myself doing what I had always done, which was taking control and trying to get as much done myself as possible. Throughout the semester, I've learned how that is a terrible way to work in a group and that in my future career I am going to need to be able to work more collaboratively and be willing to let other people take on the work as well. I realized that these were group projects for a reason, and that they were not meant to be done by one person.

I think that for the last couple of group projects of the semester I handled it a lot better than I was at the beginning. I was working more collaboratively with everyone instead of just splitting up the work and having each person do their own part. I think that this all can go to back to the importance of relationships as well. Healthcare is a team effort, and it is imperative that you build strong relationships with your colleagues because you never know when you may need them. Being a leader is about understanding the people around you and making the best effort to ensure that everyone is working towards a common goal.

Post 12: Population Health

Nowadays, "population health" is a huge buzz term for healthcare in the US, which I think it should be. In my Health Policy class, we have discussed a lot about what is going on for population health now in the US. Hospitals and providers are now realizing all of the factors that can affect an individual's health. By recognizing that someone's health goes far beyond just the treatment they receive in the hospital, we will work towards bettering the health of our population. In our policy class, we learned about the concept of "community centered health homes", which is a model where multiple organizations work together to better the health of individuals, such has hospitals, community organizations, and health centers. The fact that these types of models are becoming more well known goes to show how we are moving towards a healthcare system that puts more of an emphasis on population health.

Not only does focusing on population health improve the overall quality of life for individuals in a community, it can also save us money and improve the cost efficiency of our healthcare system. The hospital is the most expensive place for people to receive their care, so by putting more of an emphasis on community health centers and primary care facilities it would prevent us from spending more money than we need to be.

Part of being a manager of a healthcare organization is about seeing the bigger picture of the work you are doing. Instead of just focusing on what goes on directly in your hospital and under your supervision, you should be looking at how what you are doing is affecting the community, and thinking of ways that you may be able to better your relationships with other organizations and work together to provide better healthcare for all.

Post 11: Crisis Management

This week we had a guest speaker who does a lot of work with crisis management at a local hospital. Her presentation was extremely interesting and informative and it taught me a lot about the importance of being prepared for certain emergency situations. Crisis management is not something I really thought about before and I didn't realize how prepared hospitals need to be. This year with all of the natural disasters and tragedies that have happened have made hospitals think about their crisis management plans more than they have in the past. There is a lot at stake in hospitals since they have such a huge population of unhealthy people that are responsible for if a disaster situation were to arise.

Our guest speaker told us a little bit of the protocols that she needs to follow when a disaster is occurring in order to ensure that everybody on the senior leadership team is aware of what is going on. Part of being a manager is knowing how to react in those situations and be able to act under pressure and lead the people around you. Making sure that you are fully prepared and aware of what the organization's protocols are for those types of situations is extremely important. Being a successful leader in those situations requires you to remain calm and be able to guide the people around you in a collected manner.

Post 10: Healthcare Policies

Recently in our Health Policy class we had a guest speaker come in to talk to us about the Affordable Care Act and how it came into being a law. This presentation made me realize just how much governmental policies affect the way hospital managers run their business. We have talked about this a lot in all of my classes this semester, as well as hear professionals talk about current policy issues at various networking events. As a manager, is it essential to be up to date on the latest policies and know what is going on and what could be changing.

I found an article written in The Baltimore Sun titled "Hospital presidents talk about health issues with business owners". In this article, the president of John Hopkins Hospital talked about how closely she watches things like taking away health insurance coverage or making changes to the Medicaid program. She said that they do worry about the federal level and what is going on there. Dr. Mohan Suntha also talked about how communicating with physicians about policy issues can be difficult. He explained how they just want to know the "rules of the game" so that they can figure out how to better take care of patients. This can be difficult for them, however, because in healthcare the "rules of the game" are constantly changing. Overall, managing any business requires knowledge of current policy issues, but in healthcare it is especially important and changing constantly.

Link to article:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-hs-gbc-hospital-ceos-20171115-story.html

Post 9: Human Resources

This week in class we had a guest speaker who is the Vice President of Human Resources at one of the major hospitals in New Hampshire. He has a lot of important things to say about the role that human resources plays in a hospital and why they are so crucial to the functioning of the organization. Human resources is extremely important in any industry because it deals with people and as long as there are people working in an organization, there will be a need for human resources. In health care especially, it is important to have that department to help guide employees who may have not had a lot of experience in leadership training and develop them into better leaders and coworkers.

Human resources also plays a critical role in the hiring of new employees. In healthcare especially, making sure new employees have the right credentials and education is extremely important. In our Health Law class, we talked about a case involving a man who had never graduated medical school but had still ended up practicing medicine because he scammed the hiring department of the hospitals he worked at. Cases like these show how important it is to have a human resources department to follow through on verifying the credentials of potential candidates. Human resources also provides a lot of support in dealing with conflicts in the work place. Like I said before, as long as your organization has people working in it, conflict is going to occur at some point and it is important to have a resource to go to when that happens. As a hospital manager, acknowledging the need for human resources and having an understanding of exactly what they do will help you in creating a successful organization.

Post 8: Stress

Everyone experiences feelings of stress. Stress can be a huge strain on someone's daily and can affect their overall health. If someone is experiencing an immense amount of stress, it can cause them to not be able to do their job very well. As a manager, it is important to keep this in mind when dealing with your employees. Providing resources for employees to help with stress management could be a good way to improve the functioning of your organization.

In the organization I spent time at this summer, they held a seminar that was about job burnout. Job burnout is when you start to feel unmotivated and unsatisfied in your job and you begin to dread going to work. The seminar taught employees about the signs and symptoms of job burnout and how to deal with that and avoid it. I thought that this was great because it told employees that they weren't alone if they were feeling that way and that there were ways to help them feel more fulfilled in their career and life. Making sure your employees are feeling good about what they are doing and are motivated to do well is so important to the success of an organization, especially healthcare. Having employees that feel supported and motivated will result in better care and a better function team.