Healthcare Legislation Assignment
For healthcare institutions, it is highly important to monitor the changes in healthcare regulations and to trace the state of the economy, as these factors have a direct impact on the administration of healthcare institutions, on budgeting and scheduling options. The changes in the demography and in Medicare population are also vitally important for healthcare organizations. The role of the leader is to keep track of the changes in these areas, communicate the changes and their consequences to the staff and collaborate with staff and senior executives to fid new strategies and solutions optimal for the changing environment. The purpose of this paper is to consider the current state of the economy, the new healthcare legislation, the impact of increasing Medicare population on the target organization (hospital), to discuss how these changes impact budgetary planning and to identify the leader’s role and position in communicating these changes to staff members.Healthcare Legislation Assignment
Currently, the U.S. economy demonstrates significant growth; in fact, there are recovery processes going in the economy following the recession in 2007-2009. In 2011-2012, the growth was somewhat slower than predicted and high unemployment was witnessed. However, the recovery is notable, and this trend continues: in the third quarter of 2013, real GDP increased by 3.6%, which exceeded the most optimistic expectations by 0.8% (Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2013). Corporate profits increased by 1.8%, and there was moderate increase of consumer spending (Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2013). There also was a notable increase in inventory investments, and an increase in local and state government spending (Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2013). As for the considered hospital, these economic tendencies indicate that a gradual revenue improvement can be expected as the profits and salaries increase, and consumers increase their spending (healthcare spending in particular). Furthermore, since there is an increase in government spending, it is reasonable to expect that Medicare coverage might also experience slight growth.
The next important factor to be considered is healthcare legislation. Currently Obamacare legislation is being amended and expanded. Overall, there are dramatic changes brought by Obamacare legislation (McCarthy, Shafermeyer & Plake, 2011): citizens without health insurance will be subjects to taxation, health insurance exchanges will be created (both Federal and state exchanges will emerge), more strict rules will be applied to healthcare insurers, healthcare institutions will have to demonstrate high quality of healthcare, more people will be able to access Medicare and Medicaid. Obamacare laws also reduce the chances that insurers will reject patients with imminent diseases, therefore increasing overall number of patients accessing Medicare. At the same time, the amendments of Obamacare provided the opportunity for the states to opt out of the new regulations; therefore, competition between healthcare providers and the demand for healthcare might differ in different states (Oberlander, 2012). Furthermore, hospitals will have to demonstrate that their services are of the appropriate quality to receive reimbursements for Medicare (Oberlander, 2012). Medicare readmissions might also create issues for the healthcare institutions (Berger, 2011).
With regard to the considered hospital, the expected impact of the legislation is the following: there will be more Medicare patients and the work load is expected to increase; however, the overall Medicare budgets are tight and the hospital will have to prove its eligibility for Medicare reimbursements (Berger, 2011). Hospital management will have to face an important dilemma: on one hand, the number of patients will increase, but at the same time healthcare costs should be decreased, and the efficiency of treatment should be improved. In these conditions, the hospital might need to reconsider its processes, automate and streamline many processes, and increase control over quality.
The U.S. population is ageing and this trend also contributes to the increase of Medicare population. As it is expected that more services to the ageing people will be demanded, the hospital might have to increase the range of outpatient services and to hire new staff for outpatient services or offer a shirt to the existing employees.Healthcare Legislation Assignment
Budgetary planning in the considered organization will also experience transformations due to the economic trends, changes in Obamacare legislation and due to increasing population requiring Medicare services. First of all, it is necessary to include the projected increase of demand for insurer-covered healthcare services and Medicare services. Secondly, it is reasonable to expect that people who were previously rejected by the insurers will now gain access to healthcare financing; for the hospital, it means that there will be more patients with protracted and chronic diseases. Such change of demand might require increasing the number of qualified staff and increasing the number of outpatient staff. Nevertheless, there might be an increase in readmissions due to structural changes of demand; this fact should be discussed with the representatives of the local government. In the process of budgeting, the organization should ensure that it will receive Medicare reimbursements for the target period.
For a good leader, it is essential to communicate the changes in the operating environment and in the demand for healthcare services, as well as the consequent budgeting and scheduling changes. To lead a discussion on these changes, the leader should first of all establish rapport with the team members and discuss what they know about these structural changes. The leader should outline key facts relating to the new healthcare regulations, to budgeting and to the dynamics of healthcare demand. The leader should collaborate with the team members and identify the response of the organization to the new challenges. It is recommended for the leader to discuss the aspects of budgeting and scheduling with the team, and to take into accounts their recommendations while developing the budget, preparing schedules and adjusting personnel policies. The role of the leader is to establish a connection between senior executives and the personnel, to make sure that the interests of the personnel are accounted for, and that the employees are satisfied and motivated to deliver quality healthcare services.Healthcare Legislation Assignment
References
Berger, D.D. (2011). The management of healthcare costs. The University of Memphis Law Review, 42(2), 255-301.
Bureau of Economic Analysis. (2013). GDP growth risks picks up in third quarter. U.S. Department of Commerce. Retrieved December 13, 2013 from http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/gdphighlights.pdf
McCarthy, R.L., Shafermeyer K.W. & Plake, K.S. (2011). Introduction to Health Care Delivery. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Oberlander, J. (2012). The Future of Obamacare. The New England Journal of Medicine, 367(23), 2165-2167.Healthcare Legislation Assignment