Introduction of the Organization
Memorial Hermann is all about redefining healthcare. They integrate care delivery, top notch physicians, and health solutions, a full-service healthcare provider. Memorial Hermann has 5,500 physicians, and 24,000 employees that practice evidence based medicine with a focus on patient safety and satisfaction. Memorial Hermann is the largest not-for-profit healthcare system in all of southeast Texas. This includes 16 hospitals, conveniently located throughout the greater Houston area that are accredited by Joint Commission. Memorial Hermann offers leading-edge diagnostic technologies and treatment techniques to the many different communities that it serves. They have served the community of Greater Houston for more than 105 years, and contribute $451 million annually through school based health centers and other programs (About Us, 2017). Memorial Hermann is ranked among the nation’s top 15 healthcare systems by Truven Health. U.S. News & World Report for 2016-2017 ranked several of the Memorial Hermann hospitals as among best in Houston and considered “high-performing” in many different specialties (Awards and Recognition, 2017).
Examination of the Organization
Memorial Hermann is devoted to providing quality, cost-efficient, and compassionate care. We strive to improve the health and well-being, of our people who live and work in the community that we serve them in. Memorial Hermann’s mission and philosophy is a not‐for‐profit, community‐owned, health care system with spiritual values, dedicated to providing high quality health services in order to improve the health of the people in Southeast Texas (About Us, 2017). The mission is achieved for each individual patient by collaborating with our patients, families, physicians, employees, volunteers, vendors, and communities. We take pride in caring for the whole patient. Memorial Hermann is a Medicare Accountable Care Organization, a type of joint practice. “ACOs are groups of doctors and other health care providers who voluntarily work together with Medicare to give you high quality service and care at the right time in the right setting” (About Us, 2017). This means that your doctor has agreed to participate in a Medicare shared savings ACO and to work thoroughly with other doctors to coordinate the care that is best for you. This benefits our patient’s because all of their healthcare providers will be a part of a better synchronized team, not so much duplicated paperwork, and every MD will know of the medical treatment that and issues that you have had.
Strengths and Limitations
As in every organization there are major strengths and limitations as well. One limitation is availability and access to healthcare services. While Memorial Hermann offers some of the best healthcare services, access still remains a top issue. Another limitation is the minimal access to the behavioral health services. The community identified this as being an unmet need. They plan to expand these types of services to their surrounding communities. “Stakeholders highlighted multiple unmet needs for mental health and substance abuse services in the communities served by MH Texas Medical Center, particularly the burden of mental health needs in the youth and incarcerated populations and unmet demands for mental health treatment” (Ganelin, p. 6). These findings illustrated the importance of pursuing solutions to close this gap in healthcare. On the other hand, Memorial Hermann as an organization possesses strengths as well. We have high quality medical care. A high quality of care is exemplified by the wide availability of health care services and the high quality of those services. Memorial Hermann also provides economic opportunity. Being that a Memorial Hermann facility is not too far from any community in the Greater Houston area it creates economic opportunities for residents and the businesses that surround it.
Care Delivery System
Memorial Hermann prides themselves on providing patient-centered care. “The care delivery system clarifies the authority, accountability and autonomy for clinical decision making and nursing outcomes” (About Us, 2017). Memorial Hermann facilities follow The Nursing Professional Practice Model. “The Nursing Professional Practice Model is an integral step in the journey to Magnet designation, and by better defining the components of nursing practice, professional nurses are able to provide better care for their patients” (King, p. 4). The Nursing Professional Practice Model includes nurses as clinicians, advocates for their patients and their families, leaders, innovators, collaborators, and well educated teachers. Delegation goes in order of manager, charge nurse, licensed staff to unlicensed staff. Manager can delegate to the coordinating of staffing assignments to the charge nurse. The charge nurse is able to delegate patient assignments to the licensed personal. While the licensed personal are able to delegate tasks such as, ADLs, turning, and aiding in care with licensed personal. The system is consistent, and organized and it works. The Nursing Care Delivery System at Memorial Hermann defines the registered nurse as being accountable for the coordination of patient care and the bridge to connect the physician’s treatment to the patient’s goals treatment plan for the whole patient.
Outcomes and Measurements
Memorial Hermann was named one of the nation’s top 15 health systems in January of 2012. The performance showed lower mortality, better survival, and fewer complications (About Us, 2017). This award is based on criteria such as clinical outcomes, patient safety, patient satisfaction and operational efficiency. This award is a direct reward of the outstanding care that Memorial Hermann provides to its patients. Nursing-sensitive clinical indicators are elements of patient care directly affected by the nursing services provided. The DAISY award is an award presented to exemplify boundless nursing care to the nursing staff. The DAISY Award recognizes one nurse each month for going above and beyond to deliver extraordinary patient care. Last month on our unit was a nurse by the name of Amy. Amy always provides compassion and wide array of clinical skills provided to patients and families.
