Cleveland Clinic Health System, Assessment Example

Introduction

The Cleveland Clinic is a world-class health organization located in Cleveland, Ohio with a stellar reputation for high quality care and treatment for many patients from areas throughout the world. The organization continues to achieve excellence in many specialty areas, most notably its cardiac-based programs and initiatives. The organization continues to grow and thrive in its efforts to deliver the best possible care to its patient population, in spite of ever-increasing challenges within the healthcare system in the United States. Therefore, the organization must identify its core strengths and its vulnerabilities so that they are able to sustain a strong and formidable competitive advantage within the industry. This process requires the recruitment of renowned experts and specialists who provide a wealth of knowledge for the organization, along with a strategy to promote cost efficiencies and the reduction of employee turnover. The following discussion will address the current external environment of the Cleveland Clinic and how it impacts the City of Cleveland and the healthcare industry as a whole in meeting the chosen strategies and objectives that drive healthcare practice in different ways.

Environmental Forces

The Cleveland Clinic is not unlike many other healthcare organizations in the United States in that there are significant challenges related to the external environment that directly impact patient care and treatment. Many hospitals possess a mandate to reduce costs and improve efficiency through their activities, and thereby require an assessment of the external forces that drive their costs and activities (Lichtenberger, Neal, & Ungerman, 2010). Some of the most prominent, challenging, and often promising environmental forces that impact the Cleveland Clinic in its current and future operations are summarized in the following diagram:

Based upon this diagram, the Cleveland Clinic possesses a number of external challenges and possible threats that may impact the organization, both now and for the foreseeable future. In this context, it is important to identify the knowledge and resources that are required to ensure that the organization will be successful in its efforts to achieve high quality care and treatment that satisfies patient expectations. This process requires a high level strategy that is not only appropriate and practical, but also flexible in nature and is capable of adapting to change as necessary. This process is essential to the long-term growth of the organization and its ability to manage change effectively.

The primary threats that the organization currently faces include the following (Cleveland Clinic, 2012): 1) Achieving a sustainable economic impact within the community, in spite of the competitive nature of the healthcare system within the City of Cleveland; 2) The challenges related to the Affordable Care Act and how it will impact costs and reimbursements over the long term; 3) Increased compliance requirements that necessitate new forms of training, education, and improvements in the Corporate Compliance program; 4) Increased environmental concerns that have a significant impact on the organization and its patients; and 5) Mandates to improve cost efficiency which lead to staffing reductions in certain areas. These factors have had and will continue to have a significant impact on the organization and its ability to be effective in providing the expected level of care and treatment to its diverse patient population that extend beyond the Cleveland community and the surrounding areas (Cleveland Clinic, 2012).

Formidable opportunities for growth include the following (Cleveland Clinic, 2012): 1)Improving patient safety on a continuous basis; 2) Increasing patient care follow-up upon discharge to prevent rehospitalizations; 3) Expanded quality indicators to improve quality of life and reduce mortality rates; 4) Expanded wellness programs and initiatives for employees to improve satisfaction and reduce turnover rates; and 5) Increased opportunities for employee advancement and performance improvement in order to ensure that employees identify the Cleveland Clinic as a great place to work. Each of these initiatives requires an advanced strategic process that will encourage specific divisions within the organization to examine their operations, to recognize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses, and to understand the dynamic and image that the organization brings to the community (Cleveland Clinic, 2012). These factors will encourage organizational leaders to examine their current strategies and to effectively promote processes that will contribute to a continuous wave of high quality care and treatment for its patients, while also considering other factors that may serve as future opportunities to sustain excellence in a variety of areas (Cleveland Clinic, 2012).

Conclusion

The Cleveland Clinic is a world-renowned organization with an excellent reputation for high quality care and treatment in many specialty areas. Nonetheless, the healthcare industry continues to face significant challenges with respect to the decisions that are made and how they will impact future patient populations. These factors require a high level of support and commitment to the organization, including the recognition of threats that impact the industry, as well as opportunities to improve growth and sustain high quality care, both now and in the future. This process is essential to the organization’s reputation and its ability to be effective in supporting the future of the organization and its strategic direction from this point forward.

References

Cleveland Clinic (2012). Cleveland Clinic Health System: 2012 United Nations Global Compact Report. Retrieved from http://my.clevelandclinic.org/Documents/About-Cleveland-Clinic/overview/CC_UNreport_2012.pdf

Lichtenberger, S., Neal, E., & Ungerman, D. (2010). How sourcing excellence can lower hospital costs. Health International, 10, 18-29.

Mosely, G.B. (2009). Managing Health Care Business Strategy. Jones & Bartlett Learning.