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Operations Planning for Group Medical Practice

Paper Type: Free Assignment Study Level: University / Undergraduate
Wordcount: 1484 words Published: 25th Sep 2020

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A business plan is a guide to aid in the success of the practice. The business plan will map out the business showing where we are, where we want the business to be in the future, and the strategies to get there, laying out the overall goals of the practice. As a single-specialty group practice, there is typically a small staff, a limited number of patients, and physicians who practice the same medical specialty. As a consultant for group practice, I will develop the key to make and implement a successful plan. I will make sure that all members understand the strategy and their role in achieving it. Within the practice, we should strive for excellence to make sure that we are providing the optimal care to patients, reducing potential risk, and make sure that we are aware of those things that could hinder the functioning of the business.

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Benchmarking

Benchmarking is the process that businesses use to measure their performance against their competitors and for opportunities for improvement within their practice (Wolper,2013).  With benchmarking, companies use many types and one type being financial benchmarking. Two types of financial benchmarking are internal and external. These types help companies set goals, evaluate cost and revenue, as well as productivity. Benchmarking processes should begin with internal benchmarking when you want to examine the organization itself because this provides a starting point for comparison with other competitors (Kay, 2007).

Internal benchmarking compares results of a department and the overall staff within the practice against another competitor. Once data is gathered from the results, it is determined which method or procedures produce the best results to achieve a higher level of performance, as well as improvement throughout the practice.  The overall results from the data collected could aid in improving leadership skills, teamwork, etc.

External benchmarking compares the statistical data with other organizations within the same network or surrounding areas. The data goes into a report as well and can be used to discover the latest ideas, new methods for improving services, and products that can be offered.  When one uses external benchmarking, it is to improve their performance by measuring how it performs and comparing it with that of others.

Both are very useful and can aid in the improvement of performance for the practice. Internal benchmarking adds the advantage of comparing your data against competitors, while also allowing you to check various operational features over a period. It’s a valuable way to track progress, finding problems, and finding trends that can be used. External benchmarking can enable one to know where they stand against competitors and practices that may be similar. But the effectiveness of any benchmarking process depends on following through on the results of the report to determine where the practice will stand in the future.

Health Information Technology System

Aiming to increase the effectiveness and efficiency in healthcare is very important. Given the constant change in healthcare, computer, and information technologies are being used and implemented by many healthcare providers in the health care industry. For a health information technology system to be successful one would need the right software, the right people to be able to work the system, have the right policies in place to safeguard information, and the overall proper process to support patient needs and care (Wolper,2013).

With the implementation of a new health information technology system that includes electronic health records, electronic health records should have the potential to strengthen the quality of care and the relationship between physicians and patients through ready access to patient information (Zeng,2016). It is also beneficial for a practice to understand the benefits of implementing and the use of electronic health record, to thoroughly research and decide on what system to buy, to train everyone, and to continuously monitor the system for functionality purposes. Several factors have contributed to the adoption of EHRs, and it offers better health care while lowering costs and maintaining efficiency. Patient privacy must be the primary concern, so the system should be able to withstand potential cyber-attacks and breaches. The overall goal of the health information system is to be able to monitor who has access and to have reported on anyone who does with dates, the information obtained, and any unauthorized access attempts.

Potential risk exposure

Strategic risk management and planning should be something that future practices include when starting up a new business. Concerns about improving patient safety and minimizing risks are the number one priority while reducing medical errors. Any potential risk can cause a substantial financial strain on the practice, as well as have a negative impact. Given the individual risk that can happen within the practice, one specific risk that can hinder the practice is exposure from technology and its uses.

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Given the sensitivity of health information as the information becomes increasingly accessible in electronic form, the privacy and security risks change. The use of electronic medical records was implemented to reduce medical errors, help healthcare providers avoid preventable injuries, and reduce the exposure to the risk of medical malpractice lawsuits (Wolper,2013). But if that data is not safeguarded correctly within the system, there could be a potential breach, or if the patient information is lost or stolen, the company involved could potentially be at fault.

With the potential exposure, to avoid or reduce the impact of the risk practices should make sure there is adequate training in staff when it comes to technology uses. Make sure that the systems are compatible, and the software is up to date. Also, it can be helpful to remind employees to be mindful and to watch electronic devices that are left unattended and make sure to store information with a protected password properly.

Emergency Preparedness

When faced with disasters, it is common for people to want public health figures to do something and expect them to know what needs to be done. Some disasters are unpredictable and can be unavoidable in most cases. Some natural disasters have similarities that can be beneficial for emergency medical response teams because it can aid in making sure that resources are well managed (Mahapatra, 2014). A practice needs to make sure that when developing a plan, to include staff in case of a public health emergency. The steps that the practice takes to prepare for an emergency can affect the overall structure of the practice, such as its policies and procedures and can be useful if one has knowledge given the disaster as it can provide an adequate response (Mahapatra,2014).

One thing that is needed to remain operational is an effective leader.  There should be someone that knows how to communicate effectively and can lead a team given an emergency. Effective leaders help communities and emergency responders to react quickly and to lessen the stress and keep the situation at bay. When any form of a disaster occurs, hospitals can become overwhelmed with patients, creating a need for the facility to have staff readily available. It is important for there to be staff on call to handle emergency situations but sill functioning as if it is a regular day treating patients, so it should always be an open line of communication so one can know their role and placement.

Conclusion

It is important to have a successful strategic plan in place for any practice. It is important to know the overall goals of the practice and use benchmarking techniques for improving the performance of an organization. Benchmarking alone ensures the practice continues to improve and develop to stand against competitors.

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