Building a Consensus
The combination of persons, facilities, and resources that provide well-being services managing or improving the health standards of a population is the healthcare system. In a health care setting, there are numerous stakeholders whose needs and opinions are crucial to service delivery. The primary stakeholders are patients, physicians, employers, the government, insurance companies, and pharmaceutical firms.
Managing the Needs and Expectations of Stakeholders
They are the entities that wholly or partially participate in the activities of a health providing system. It is the role of an administrator to develop and foster positive relationships between all the stakeholders for the sake of prosperity. To navigate all the needs and expectations, it is vital for an administrator first to identify the major stakeholders. One group cannot function without the other it is a mutual co-existence within the health care system. The second step is to identify the needs of all stakeholders, starting with the essential patient. In the absence of patients, there would be no need for the rest of the stakeholders.
Additionally, every person expects the hospital to provide services that result in quick recoveries. That is the need identified for each patient’s; swift and comprehensive service at affordable prices. Therefore, all other entities ‘ needs arise from this one group. Consequently, it is crucial to manage all the parties’ obligations versus their expectations by engaging them in all the planning processes. Stakeholder engagement involves bringing together vital persons in the healthcare system that can influence operations. It can be a little difficult to include patients as a significant number are temporary to the facilities; however, the board can ask for the views of patients across all departments to identify what issues they have and what they like best about the facility. When involving all the key parties, they can point out what they need. All these needs are pit against each other, considering factors such as healthcare and budgetary constraints to pick out the most suitable course of action.
Through involvement, there is little chance of upsetting one entity in favor of another, which is a win-win strategy. Dorn, Marcus, and McNulty (2013) say that negotiation is another strategy, although it works in tandem with engagement. As one involves all the entities in decision-making plans, there are bound to be disagreements, especially when it comes to benefits that physicians, insurers, and employers expect to derive. Negotiation helps the groups to forego or reduce their expectations in favor of the others. It is also essential to have constant communication among the stakeholders in case of any changes. For example, if the government passes a bill to reduce the cost of insulin to patients, then they have to inform all the parties. It helps to maintain a positive relationship and tailoring expectations to accommodate the changes (Agency of Healthcare and Research and Quality, 2020).
Conflicting Values and Principles
There will always be conflicts in values and principles due to the different health provision system entities. There are groups whose primary concern is making profits while for others, the aim is care delivery. As a leader, one has to expect such conflicts with every planning session. The internal stakeholders that are the patients and physicians look up to pharmaceutical and insurance companies for directions on the extent of care provision. Such companies play a vital role in estimating healthcare provision costs and the urgency of certain conditions above others.
To identify the conflicting values and principles of stakeholders, the administration engages all these parties in all the planning activities. Planning for all the activities a healthcare facility undertakes requires the groups to weigh in their opinions on services provided and the costs needed for facilitation. As they give those opinions, it is clear that personal values and principles, as well as that of the organizations they represent, influence these suggestions. In most cases, the benefits of the organizations they represent take the forefront, and this values all work to increase the profit margins. As the leader, one has to identify that gains are a vital aspect for these groups and should empathize with them.
It is then becoming the administrators’ role to ensure that the stakeholders’ values and principles can co-exist with the provision of quality healthcare. Altering the approaches the management takes when dealing with conflicts becomes the most crucial step. Negotiation is the most suitable solution for the disputes observed in values and principles (Dorn, Marcus & McNulty, 2013). Through bargaining, self-interest transforms into enlarged and enlightened interests, which in turn bears mutual interests.
Ethical Dilemmas Facing the Stakeholders
Since administrators play an essential role in establishing programs that affect service provision, they face multiple ethical dilemmas as they make decisions on patient care. They have to expect instances where the facility or specific care providers end up facing legal action (Ohio University, 2020). When such a case arises, the administrator has to identify whether they offer help to the said provider, try and negotiate such issues out of court, or if they let go of the medical practitioners. To manage the legal problems requires the ethical evaluation of all parties involved before making a decision. On the other hand, the administrator has to ensure that their employees do not practice defensive medicine due to patients’ fear of legal actions. Patient care has to take the forefront that is an ethical practice.
The right to privacy is an ethical principle that healthcare systems have to adapt. Nevertheless, the administrator must expect that breaches in information might occur, especially with hospitals taking up information systems in their everyday operations. The administrator is responsible for ensuring that the electronic health records systems follow the relevant laws and regulations. The dilemma occurs when the privacy needs breaking to prevent the patient from harming themselves or third parties. Another issue that is grounds for ethical dilemmas is end-of-life issues, especially with terminally ill patients (University of Texas, 2016). The leadership should anticipate disagreements between the patients’ needs and that of the family. They ought not to make quick decisions regarding such delicate issues, and consultation of all the necessary parties is vital. In the long run, understanding and empathizing with the patient is the primary decision-maker.
Professional leaders strive to maintain positive relationships between stakeholders in a healthcare setting (Ohio University, 2020). For example, when a pharmaceutical company makes promises to medical practitioners, they will receive some form of commission when prescribing a particular drug in a certain percentage. It is an unethical practice that the leadership should avoid irrespective of the benefits derived. The University of Texas (2016) asserts that sexual relationships in the workplace are another worrying issue. If no rules are prohibiting such relationships in the hospital setting, then the leadership should expect some form of sexual harassment cases. If there is a report of such a claim, the administrator should not favor one party due to superiority or one who brings in more value financially. That will be unethical and is grounds for legal action.
All the stakeholders are essential players in the smooth running of the healthcare facilities. The administrator is responsible for maintaining a stable and positive relationship between the parties. All parties’ needs must emanate from that of providing quality services to the patients.
References
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2020). Engaging Stakeholders in a Care Management Program. https://www.ahrq.gov/patient-safety/settings/long-term-care/resource/hcbs/medicaidmgmt/mm2.html.
Dorn, D., Marcus, L., McNulty, E. (2013). Four steps to resolving conflicts in health care. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2013/10/four-steps-to-resolving-conflicts-in-health-care?registration=success.
Ohio University. (2020). Ethical dilemmas faced by today’s health care administrators. Online Master of Health Administration. https://onlinemasters.ohio.edu/blog/ethical-dilemmas-faced-by-todays-health-care-administrators/.
The University of Texas. (2016). Ethical issues in healthcare. https://online.uttyler.edu/articles/ethical-issues-in-healthcare.aspx.