Performance Management, Essay Example

The healthcare system is one of the most important facets of any given economy. For an economy to realize its full potential, its work force is required to be healthy at any given point in time. This is ensured by an effective and efficient healthcare system. However, when the healthcare system is afflicted with redundancies and inefficiencies, the economy is threatened. The United States healthcare system has recently been under the microscope owing to the number of deaths and/or injuries that patients have experienced as a result of treatment. This raises questions as to the execution of medical tasks by medical personnel.

Ambiguity

The United States healthcare system is rigged with numerous ambiguities that expose the players and stakeholders within the system at risk. These ambiguities are usually present in the processes carried out within a medical institution, the definition of roles and responsibilities of different medical personnel within the medical facility and the transitional handling of patients from one section of a medical institution to another.

Uniformity of Tasks

Different medical tasks are carried out by different medical personnel. Some task can be performed by numerous medical personnel, while others can only be executed by specific individuals. When medical tasks, such as the collection of blood samples, do not have a uniform manner in which it is executed, then there exists ambiguity within the system. This exposes the patient numerous risks such as infections and/or physical injury.

Redundancies and ambiguity can be eliminated within a system if, and only if, there is a well-defined procedure that has to be adhered to when executing certain tasks. This ensures a uniformity in the execution of medical tasks, providing a relatively limited exposure to risks of infection and/or injury to the patient.

However, this may be viewed from the stand point of human error. This is where it is inevitable that fatalities and/or injuries may occur in the course of receiving treatment or medical care. However much one tries to streamline the standards employed in executing medical tasks, human beings are bound to make mistakes. This viewpoint would state that this can be countered by the adequate compensation of medical staff as a form of motivation. While this may be true, streamlining and creating uniformity in the execution of tasks, is much cheaper and more effective.

Definition of Roles and Responsibilities

As mentioned earlier, each medical personnel is required or expected to execute certain tasks that are within their jurisdiction and skills. As such, there is a structural approach towards the delegation of roles, responsibilities and duties. Proper structural management would have it that each task has an identified and specified medical personnel that is required to execute it within a given amount of time. This reduces the risks associated with the assumption of roles, responsibilities and duties by each and every medical personnel.

The structural and hierarchical design of the delegation of duties, responsibilities and roles is essential in ensuring an effective and efficient system. This would ensure that each task is executed with the highest level of professionalism as required.

Procedural Standards

There are numerous complex medical procedures that are carried out on a daily basis within a medical institution. It is important that there is very little ambiguity on the parameters involved with the given procedure, the requirements and the limits of the procedure. This is vital in ensuring due diligence, professionalism and accuracy in the execution of complex medical procedures.

Counter Measures

It is vital that any effective healthcare system have set counter measures. These are essential in ensuring that the system is prepared to handle with incidences when emergencies arise as a result of ambiguities within the system. This is to help ensure that all patients are protected by virtue of having emergency measures in place. This can be a very important toll for damage control.

Solutions

In the event that a medical institution has identified all underlying problems such as redundancies and ambiguities, it is important to draw plausible solutions and their scenarios. It is important to acknowledge and identify that every problem has its own unique solution owing to the surrounding factors. These solutions should be small changes that target particular areas of the system. These are more effective, manageable and sustainable on the long-run.

Corporate Integration

It is important that the whole institution be integrated, from top level management to the nurse. This is important in involving all levels of employees in the identification and implementation of solutions. This ensures a total system integration, with every part involved in the refining of the day-to-day processes within the institution.

In conclusion, the United States’ Healthcare system has become prone to ambiguities and redundancies that have exposed patients to high risks of infection or injury. This can be solved through a clear definition ad refinement of the medical processes and procedures. This is further supplemented by the definition of role, duties and responsibilities of each medical personnel. A structural approach provides for the best solution.