Leading a healthcare facility in this era is a difficult task. It takes skills, knowledge and the ability to help all those involved to prosper. A leader that can have compassion for the patient, is goal oriented and has the ability to lead by example will be successful.
Professional Development/Vision
Transformational leadership encompasses the concept of leadership and employees working together to reach the same desired outcomes. This type of leadership aligns with my goals and characteristics. In becoming a transformational leader, a person must ascertain the skill and knowledge to set goals, keep employees engaged but at the same time help the organization thrive.
The first part that is included in my professional development plan would be education. Obtaining a bachelor’s degree in Health Information Management from Purdue Global would be the first step. Secondly obtaining a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership from John Hopkins would advance my development plan.
Obtaining Certifications from the AHIMA and HIMSS would help with individual aspects of leadership. HIMSS provides a FACHE certification that teaches many aspects of becoming a leader. Two types of certificates that pertain to coding and risk assessment would include Risk Adjustment HCC Coder Auditor Training and Registered Health Information Administrator found on the AHIMA site.
Applying as a fellowship within a healthcare facility would be the next step. This would promote quality behaviors in a leadership role as well as learn the clinical and operational processes needed to be successful and provide excellent patient care.
Medical Practice Description/Shareholders
The medical practice that I would choose to lead would be a pediatric oncology practice. This practice would help children that have developed cancer and provide treatments and services to help them gain remission. This would be located in an urban area where the practice could align itself with local area hospitals.
The stakeholders for this practice at the immediate level would be the children and families, oncologists, surgeons, nurses, and technicians. Providing the best service with personal care can help children recover from cancer. These children are the most important stakeholders. The healthcare providers in the practice provide a very important service to the children and help to create a positive outcome.
Additional stakeholders would include commercial insurance companies such as Blue Cross and Cigna and government agencies such as Medicaid and Medicare. Engaging insurance companies and government agencies allow for a broad spectrum of accepted insurances allowing the practice to submit for processing claims and gain revenue.
Stakeholders within the aligned hospitals would include employees in the labs, imaging departments, emergency departments, pharmacies and surgical departments. These relationships will help the practice gain information, provide care when a child needs to stay at the hospital as well as boost revenue for the hospital.
Overseeing the operations of the facility would be the stakeholders that make up the board of directors. The clinical stakeholder would be the chief medical officer and the chief information officer would oversee technology, each playing important roles in the clinical care of the patients and the technology used to care for the patients.
Claim submissions and reimbursements should be the main focus of revenue. Having a well-educated team of coders will assist with minimizing rejected claims. In-house financial analysts should review the assets, debt, profit, and expenses to be sure that the current and projected revenue will sustain the practice.
Delivery of services must be managed by three oncologists. This will allow for the on-call physician to be available to a child when he or she becomes ill or needs to be hospitalized. For this kind of practice, I believe the magic is number is three because a child will not be overwhelmed dealing with several doctors, yet the practice has coverage when other physicians are unavailable. In the office, services would be delivered by the nurses specializing in oncology and the oncologists themselves.
The practice should have a health information system which should be compatible with local area hospitals. Data exchanges and interoperability can assist with viewing patient information at the practice when a child is in the hospital, help with orders for medication and overall data integrity.
Mission Statement
Unified Healthcare provides superior healthcare acknowledging the need for personal interaction mixed with technology to meet the needs of the community’s children.
Venues for displaying the mission statement would include the practice website and pamphlets available at the office as well as at the associated hospitals. In addition to this, television monitors installed in the practice would display the mission statement as well as information about the practice.
Overall there are many aspects that help a medical practice succeed. Technology, leadership, and physicians with the ability to help those that need medical attention. Success not only depends on administrative leadership, it relies on a community to help to build success.
