Mission Statements for the Healthcare Manager, Essay Example

Introduction

Most business professionals would agree that the mission statement is the most important element when it comes to informing customers and clients about a company’s reason for existing and what it hopes to achieve as a business entity. According to the federally-based Health Resources and Services Administration, mission statements are vital in relation to business strategy and planning and must convey to the general public the guiding principles which help to define a company’s basic mission and vision. Mission statements also act as the foundation for accountability related to serving the public and the community at large (Vision Statement, Mission Statement, and Core Values, 2014, p. 1).

Mission Statement Definition

The Health Resources and Services Administration also provides one of the best definitions of the mission statement. In basic terms, the mission statement addresses the fundamental purpose or reason for a company’s existence. In the case of a healthcare center or clinic operated by a healthcare manager, the mission statement must provide the essence as to the organization’s mission in relation to tending to the healthcare needs of its patients and an overall standard by which the organization operates on a daily basis. It must also be written in a way that is easily understood which helps to create patient enthusiasm for the center or clinic. In many ways, the mission statement is the heart of the organization (Vision Statement, Mission Statement, and Core Values, 2014, p. 1).

Function and Significance

In the article “Missions, Mantras, and Meaning,” author Peter Gow, director of college counseling and special programs at Beaver Country Day School in Brookline, Massachusetts, argues that a mission statement in relation to its basic function is actually a two-part model or paradigm. The first part is referred to as a mantra or a statement that expresses a person’s basic beliefs and principles, such as a mantra found within Buddhism and other Eastern religions. Some have even referred to this mantra as a banner or a emblem that expresses how a business or organization like a healthcare center works together as a team with a shared identity (2009, pp. 28-29).

Gow also points out that a mission statement must express the basic core values of an organization, in this case, a healthcare center or clinic. Thus, the significance for the healthcare manager is that the mission statement, along with the manager himself, serves as the representative of the center or clinic which operates according to a mantra designed to express the center’s fundamental vision and health-related beliefs (2009, pp. 28-29).

In “The Mission Statement: A Corporate Reporting Tool With a Past, Present, and Future,” author Linda Stallworth Williams of North Georgia College and University maintains that the basic function of a mission statement is to relate two major elements about an organization–1), who or what it is, in this case, a healthcare center or clinic and its healthcare manager, both of which represent the foundation of the organization; and 2), what it does or how it provides healthcare services to its patients. Some have referred to the mission statement as a credo, much like an oath of allegiance to a nation and its citizens (2008, p. 96).

Williams also stresses that a mission statement must function as a way of expressing what she calls goodwill or a sense of honesty in relation to customers and clients which has been shown through research to increase the possibility of success. In the case of a healthcare manager, the significance lies in expressing goodwill in the form of medical honesty and integrity toward his clients, the main recipients of the mission statement (2008, p. 117).

Lastly, Michael W. Rabow, Judith Wrubel, and Rachel N. Remen, co-authors of “The Promise of Professionalism,” declare that the overall function of a mission statement is to highlight personal and/or organizational attributes related to work in the field of medicine and the values that are shared by nurses, physicians, and managers in a specific clinical setting. Basically, a mission statement from the viewpoint of a healthcare manager should express 1), professional healthcare skills and abilities; 2), an indication that the manager and his employees are always willing to listen to their patients with empathy rather than indifference; and 3), professional healthcare qualities, such as the scope of the experience of nurses and physicians at a given center or clinic, and a sense of spirituality related to healing and caring for the medical needs of patients (2009). Thus, the significance can be found in the center’s willingness to adhere to its mission statement for the good of all concerned, especially patients and their families.

Conclusion

As noted by the Health Resources and Services administration, a mission statement in relation to a healthcare center and especially its healthcare manager who occupies the highest tier within the organization, must express core values that are shared by all employees. Some of these values includes accountability, integrity, equality, quality of care, and perhaps most importantly respect (Vision Statement, Mission Statement, and Core Values, 2014, p. 2) which can only be obtained through hard work and dedication to the safety and welfare of every patient and their families.

References

Gow, P. (2009). Missions, mantras, and meaning. Independent School (69) 1: 24-30.

Rabow, M.W., Wrubel, J., and Remen, R.N. (2009). Promise of professionalism: Personal mission statements among a national cohort of medical students. Annals of Family Medicine (7) 4: 336-342.

Vision statement, mission statement, and core values. (2014). Retrieved from http://bphc.hrsa.gov/technicalassistance/resourcecenter/general/visionmissioncorevalues.pdf

Williams, L.S. (2008). The mission statement: A corporate reporting tool with a past, present, and future. Journal of Business Communication (45) 2: 94-119.