Present a background statement on the case study identifying the facts of the ACA legislation that are relevant to this case as related to strategic management
Affordable Care Ace also known as ACA reform launched in 2012 is designed to provide care coverage for the patients that do not have insurance (Buchbinder, Shanks, & Buchbinder, 2014). As a result of this reform a large number of people, who are uninsured for various reasons will have access to health care.
This increases the average number of patients for the hospitals. Besides, the ACA reform also granted accessibility of medical care for the patients with preexisting conditions. The strategic management of the leaders of the hospitals should be directed at the changes of the ambulatory care system, the ability to receive a larger number of patients. The hospitals’ CEOs needed to decide if they wished to expand their existing programs or to develop new ones.
From an administrative viewpoint, are you in agreement with Jim’s rationale and what effects will his initiatives have on their strategic direction? If you do not agree, what organizational direction would you propose based on the ACA?
Jim James saw this reform and all the changes inflicted by it as a big luck. His idea of addressing the changes brought by the reform was based on expanding the services his hospital was able to offer and preparing to promote his hospital to attract as many as possible new patients.
Jim James also noticed that not all uninsured people were ill. Jim’s strategy worked though the modification of the existing programs in his hospital. I agree with his rationale. His hospital does not need to replace its current system with a new one, or expand all of it. His hospital needs to detect areas that will be affected by the reform the most and adjust them for the circumstances.
Would you recommended developing new programs or should existing programs be expanded to meet the potential increase in demand?
I would recommend developing some new programs, but at the same time existing programs should definitely be expanded because the hospital should be prepared for a larger number of patients.
Since the majority of the new patients are going to have minor issues the hospital has to pay special attention to its emergency department, its number of physicians, and primary care department, as these is likely to become ones of the most demanded aspects.
Besides, the hospital CEO should look in to the possibility of joining an accountable care organization, this will help the hospital to provide better patient care and coordinate it.
What marketing strategies might be utilized for promoting the upcoming changes and to attract this new clientele?
One of the marketing strategies that could be used to promote the services of the hospital to potential patients is advertisements. For example, the promotional bill boards could be placed in the most crowded streets. Besides, the hospital could spread advertisements among department stores, hotels, restaurants, and on the high ways.
This will create social awareness of the hospital among people before they need medical care. Besides, promoting services, the hospital can also promote its staff by means of using the internet platforms to add profiles of their physicians so that the patients could look them up and connect. This system also adds transparency to the work of an institution, and transparency is one of the most valuable qualities in the market.
Final thoughts on the course reading and viewing as applied to this case study
Jim James is right seeing ACA reform as a bonanza. Through the application of the right directional strategies based on the hospital’s mission, the CEO’s vision James can work out a clear plan of expanding some of the hospital’s services, promoting them, making them transparent, increasing the quality of patient care before and after appointments (Swayne, Duncan & Ginter, 2009).
Reference List
Buchbinder, S., Shanks, N., & Buchbinder, D. (2014). Strategies for Dealing with Health Care Reform. Cases in health care management. Sudbury, Massachusetts: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Swayne, L., Duncan, J. & Ginter, P.M. (2009). Strategic Management of Health Care Organizations (6th ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley.