Banner Healthcare, Essay Example

Banner Healthcare is a health system based in Phoenix, Arizona, United States and operates as a non-profit organization. This paper posits to assess the readiness of Banner Healthcare in addressing the health care needs of citizens in the next decade. The paper will also address issues related to the strategic plan that addresses issues pertaining to Banner Healthcare growth, nurse staffing, resource management, and patient satisfaction.

The readiness of Banner Healthcare in addressing health care needs of citizens in the next decade

Banner Healthcare as a health system is responsible for operating 23 hospitals along with a number of specialized facilities. Banner Healthcare has given employment to over 35, 000 employees making it second largest employer after Wal-Mart in Arizona (Anderson, 2015).  Banner Healthcare is responsible for offering the services of hospital care, long term home care, emergency care, hospice, pharmacies, outpatient surgery services, rehab services, lab services and primary care physician clinics that were introduced recently including the Banner Arizona Medical Clinic as well as the Banner Medical Group. Banner Healthcare assets were estimated at $6.4 billion in 2010 and revenues projected at $4.9 billion in the same year. Banner Healthcare believes in reinventing the organization infrastructure coupled with introduction of new initiatives that are basically focused on excellence in customer service. Consequently, Banner Healthcare has been able to achieve the position of a global leader in the service industry, thus elevating the current standards among its competitors. The activities of Banner Healthcare also spans to the operation of an insurance plan called Medicare Advantage also called MediSun. The management of Banner Healthcare anticipates implementing organizational change to match the effectiveness of service delivery of the organization to the growing needs of the society. This development is currently in the innovative stage.

Strategic plans that address issues pertaining to Banner Healthcare growth, nurse staffing, resource management, and patient satisfaction

Banner Healthcare is dedicated to offer improved accessibility to health care services and close interaction with patients as part of their commitment in addressing the health care needs of citizens in the next decade. To be successful in the realization of this objective, Banner Healthcare has opted to adopt technology to enhance connecting the patients to the caregivers through the implementation of telemedicine-based healthcare delivery coupled with the use of a web portal that enables all members to access individual medical information. This development has gone a long way in assisting the users to efficiently manage the needs of their healthcare in the most convenient way in terms of time and space. Banner Healthcare also works in close collaboration with a number of employer groups, commercial as well as government agencies in the delivery health care at lowest cost, with high quality as well as the best patient experience.

As part of the strategic plan that addresses issues pertaining to Banner Healthcare growth, nurse staffing, resource management, and patient satisfaction, the organization plans to work in partnership with Houston’s M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in a bid of constructing a cancer center that is anticipated to cost $100 million at Gateway campus in Gilbert, Arizona. The mandate of the center is to offer outpatient services such as infusion therapy, support services, radiation treatment, cancer specific clinics and diagnostic imaging. Banner Healthcare also expanded the clinic space by 103, 000 square feet at a cost of $ 62 million dollar that incorporated radiation oncology as well as infusion bays as part of strategic plans to achieve growth, nurse staffing, resource management, and patient satisfaction.

Cutting Costs at Banner Health

Cutting cost of service delivery is a big challenge especially in healthcare due to the raid transformations aimed at enhancing care delivery as well as patient experience. In most healthcare settings, reduction in cost of services is always associated with corner cutting and consequently it is an antithetical to the values of care providers (Yoder-Wise, 2011). This normally translates to high echelons of dissatisfaction among the patients as well as the employees. Banner Health has adopted some strategies that will facilitate cost reduction in care delivery without necessarily cutting corners. Banner Health makes use of authentic tools as well as tactics allied to the six sigma principles, lean practices, reengineering of business processes and industrial engineering to achieve this objectives. Banner Health also tries to align their business initiatives with the culture and mission of the organization and engagement of administrative as well as clinical staff members in collaborative processes within the organization. Banner Health makes use of vision before action principle to achieve effectiveness in care delivery.

Conclusion

The Banner Healthcare Case Study highlights the readiness of Banner Healthcare in addressing the health care needs of citizens in the next decade and the strategic plan that addresses issues pertaining to Banner Healthcare growth, nurse staffing, resource management, and patient satisfaction. The subsequent analysis and evaluation of company operations and strategies offer a compelling glimpse of organizational design and leadership amid change, as well as provide a platform for future discussions of organizational development and change management.

References

Anderson, L., (2015). ‘Why Communication In The Nursing Profession Is Important’. Nurse Together. N.p., 2015.

Yoder-Wise, P., (2011). Leading and Managing In Nursing. 5th ed. St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby/Elsevier.