Conduct a case study analysis.

 

Diversity in the Health Care Workforce

Nancy K. Sayre and Sally O. Casey

A human resource manager works at a small hospital in a rural community of 30,000 mostly Spanish-speaking people in southern New Mexico. The hospital has a job opportunity for a business manager for a new outpatient clinic that is about to open. The human resource manager is considering three different candidates for the position:

1.    An individual who grew up in the community and just completed an undergraduate degree in Health Administration from an in-state college about 500 miles away. She completed an internship but has no other practical experience.

2.    A bilingual man in his 50s who has spent his entire career working at the local bank in finance, helping to get loans for regional farms or other businesses. He wishes to switch to a more personally fulfilling opportunity.

3.    A nurse who works at a large hospital in the state capital, about 200 miles away, who would like to transition from direct patient care to management. She is well-liked and has had excellent performance reviews. She grew up on tribally owned lands for the Navajo and needs to return to care for her elderly parents.

The CEO of the hospital catches the HR manager in the hospital cafeteria and he mentions that he has just returned from a national conference and learned a lot about diversity in hiring. He passes on these thoughts. Achieving diversity in health care management requires commitment among all professionals including entry-level staff, middle managers, and senior executives. Five solutions for diversity success include being sensitive to cultural differences in the workplace, establishing strategic goals that emphasize cultural diversity, seeking regular input from employees about diversity initiatives, promoting minorities from within, and mentoring them as well (Witt/Kiefer, 2011). The American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE, 2010) calls for “awareness of diversity issues, hiring practices that attract diverse staff, development and mentoring in educational programs and organizations, and organization wide diversity training,” which are all key practices on which HR needs to focus. “Our country’s increasingly diverse communities result in a more diverse patient population” (ACHE, 2010) and require a more diverse health care workforce. The Institute for Diversity in Health Management is a resource for strategies, programs, and leadership initiatives with the ultimate goal of having the health care workforce in the United States reflect the makeup of the communities served.

Given the current U.S. demographic trend of moving toward a minority nation and the need for all health care organizations to adhere to the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health Care, achieving greater diversity in the health care workforce will continue to be an important challenge (Office of Minority Health, 2001). Within health professions, the representation of Hispanics, Native Americans, and African Americans is lower than their representation in the general population. The American Hospital Association data indicated that the majority (94%) of hospital CEOs were white; whereas only 65% of the population was white in census data from 2010 (ACHE, 2010). Increasing racial and ethnic diversity has been associated with improved patient care and satisfaction, improved clinical outcomes, and stronger financial performance (Witt/Kiefer, 2011). Studies have suggested that by increasing diversity, the field of health care management can improve work-place culture, enhance community relations, and have an overall positive impact on the health of the community (ACHE, 2010).

Discussion Questions

1.    What required and preferred qualifications should be included in the job description or job posting to ensure competitive and appropriate candidates apply for the business manager position?

2.    Give examples of three to five questions that could be asked during the interview to determine the candidate’s cultural proficiency.

3.    Should cultural proficiency and community awareness be rated more highly and thus given greater importance than other qualifications in the hiring process?

4.    How important should background and/or experience in health care be rated?

5.    What management, training, and leadership practices support a new manager and ensure clinic programs, practices, and services are responsive to the needs of the community?

6.    Health care organizations must engage the communities they serve in order to improve cultural proficiencies and reduce health disparities. Describe three to five community engagement strategies the newly hired outpatient clinic could implement.

7.    What strategies can health care organizations use to evaluate the effectiveness of their community engagement strategies?

8.    What strategies can health care organizations use to evaluate the effectiveness of their diversity and cultural proficiency strategies?

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). (2010). Increasing and sustaining racial/ethnic diversity in healthcare management. Chicago, IL: ACHE. Retrieved from http://www.ache.org/policy/minority.cfm

Institute for Diversity in Health Management. http://www.diversityconnection.org/

Office of Minority Health. (2001). National standards for culturally and linguistically appropriate services in health care: Final report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Sayre, N., & Chavez, R. (2012). Addressing health disparities: Cultural proficiency. In S. B. Buchbinder & N. H. Shanks (Eds.), Introduction to health care management (2nd ed., pp. 313–332). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett.

Witt/Kiefer. (2011). Building the business case: Healthcare diversity leadership: A National survey report. Retrieved from http://www.diversityconnection.org/diversityconnection/membership/Resource%20Center%20Docs/Healthcare%20Diversity%20Leadership-%20a%20National%20Survey%20Report.pdf

 

Instructions:

Choose a union with no less than 100,000 members. To assist you, here is an expansive list of options from which to choose. 1. Report on the union profile. How many members does the union have? How is the union’s organizational structure designed? In what industry(ies) does the union operate? How long has the union been in existence? Etc. (approximately 250 words for this section). 2. Report on a minimum of three (3) legal disputes in which the union has been involved in the last 10-15 years (approximately 250 words for each dispute). For each dispute, discuss:    a. Who were the parties?    b. What was the nature of the dispute (i.e. what was the conflict)?    c. Were any adverse actions taken by either the union (strikes, etc.) or the employer (ULPs, etc.)?    d. How was the dispute resolved (i.e. mediation, arbitration, litigation, etc.)?    e. What was the final outcome? 

Submission Instructions:

This assignment should at a minimum contain 1,000 words of content (double spaced). Word count does not include headings, cover pages, references, or question text (if you choose to include it in your paper); I am looking for 1,000 words of substance. Your paper should be in APA format including a properly formatted cover page (abstracts are optional) and a reference page with at least three (3) NEW references (“new” here means references that you have not already used in previous assignments in this course). Providing additional references to your assignments demonstrates your desire to conduct additional research on the topic area, and can improve your research skills.

With all assignments, include properly formatted in-text citations within the body of your work for each of your listed references so the reader can ascertain your original thoughts or ideas as well as the portion of your work that is credited to credible sources. It is very important to identify work from other sources to ensure that proper credit is provided to researchers in the field. This assignment uses Turn It In for originality verification.

Submit the weekly written assignment as an MS Word attachment (.doc or .docx format). A recommended font is 12pt Times New Roman. DO NOT include discussion board answers with your formally written assignment submission.

Must be APA format, plagiarism-free, avoid using contractions, and incorporate the Christian view. Please check the grammatical errors. 

After completing the reading assignments, write a 2-page (minimum 500  words) response to the following questions. Why do many managers say  that job analysis is a colossal waste of their time and the time of  their employees? Are they right? 

                                 Discussion 1

 

Prior to beginning this discussion, read Chapters 7 and 8 in your course textbook.

Imagine that you are a resident of Ashfordton, a community whose characteristics are described below. You have come together with your neighbors for a special meeting to devise a plan for helping the community become carbon-neutral by 2050, meaning that by that time, no net carbon dioxide emissions will be produced by residents as a whole.

Fortunately, you have all attended the meeting with knowledge that you have gained from your readings in this course. Now it is time to put your thinking cap on and get to work! Your plan should consist of the following elements:

• Energy conservation measures (e.g., promoting carpooling by adding special lanes to local highways).
• Steps to move toward sustainable energy production (e.g., installing solar panels on town government buildings).
  • Reducing energy consumption will help, but some actions will have to involve switching to other power sources for buildings and vehicles as well.

This week’s discussion will take place in an online app called Tricider. There, you will be able to post your ideas for plan components and share pros and cons of different proposals during the week. Finally, you will be able to vote on the three components that you think the plan should include.

For directions on how to use the Tricider app, please review the Tricider Help Guide. In Tricider. You will be expected to do the following:

• Post at least two separate and entirely original ideas. Do not duplicate ideas already posted by your peers.
  • Include your full name for each one.
• Post at least six different pros and six different cons for your classmates’ proposed ideas (12 in all).
• Vote on what you feel are the top three ideas in the list.
  • Do not vote before Friday, so that you can vote from the full collection of student ideas.

You must complete the three tasks above to receive full credit for this discussion.

                                       Discussion 2

 

Prior to beginning work on this discussion forum, read Chapters 7 and 8 in your course textbook.

Now that you have cast your votes for the Ashfordton Alternative Energy Plan, it is time to explain your choices to the class. Please make a post of at least 150 words in which you

• Identify (briefly) the plan elements on which you voted.
• Explain why you selected each one.

Each of the elements with an explanation is worth .5 point for a total of 1.5 points.

Note: You will not be able to view others’ posts until you have made your own. At the end of the week, the instructor will post the winning Ashfordton Alternative Energy Plan, which will include the top three ideas selected by the class. In cases where two action items are judged by the instructor to be nearly identical, the instructor reserves the right to combine the ideas into a single one (and add votes together) in order to determine the winning ideas. This plan will be posted in the Announcements area of the classroom.

 

Outcomes addressed in this Assignment:

• Evaluate the technologies that support and supplement EHRs.
• Discuss EHR system challenges and the supporting roles of HIM professionals in addressing these challenges.
• Develop an appreciation for the planning and implementation aspects of EHRs.
• Provide examples of EHR systems as they may be implemented in various types of health care settings.
• Evaluate the acceptance and challenges associated with the NHIN (National Health Information Network).

Describe the phases and activities in the systems development life cycle.

Instructions:

This week you learned about implementing electronic health records. Imagine that you are the HIT Director for a healthcare facility and you are tasked with leading the facility in converting their office to electronic health records. For this Assignment, you will design and construct a Microsoft PowerPoint® presentation that highlights the planning and implementation process when converting to electronic health records. You will present this PowerPoint to other stakeholders in the HIT Department. Please include the following topics in your presentation:

• Name and describe 2 examples of EHRs used in healthcare facilities and discuss the pros and cons of each.
• What technologies would the facility need to implement electronic health records?
• Describe how the facility should implement EHRs using the phases of the system development life cycle as a guide.

Your presentation must have at least 15–20 slides. Please use the notes section to clarify anything that might be confusing and anything that needs elaboration such as definitions.

Requirements:

This Assignment should follow the conventions of Standard American English (correct grammar,
punctuation, etc.). Your writing should be well ordered, logical, and unified, as well as original and insightful. The resources used (including your text) should be properly cited. Your work should display superior content,organization, style, and mechanics.

Submitting your work:

Submit your Assignment to the appropriate Dropbox. For instructions on submitting your
work, view the Dropbox Guide located under Academic Tools at the top of your
unit page.

Please be sure to visit APA Central to assist you with meeting APA expectations for written
Assignments.