In 200 words Discuss how would you describe the complexity of the health industry in terms of workforce, environment, and social expectations? How would a health leader successfully navigate this complexity? 

Use as references 

Title: Leadership For Health Professionals 

Edition: 3rd (2017) 

Author: Ledlow, Coppola 

Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Book 

ISBN: 978-1-2841-0941-2 

 

Chapter 3: “Understanding Leadership as a Theory”

Chapter 5: “Leadership Competence 1: Professional Competencies and Personal Skills and Responsibilities”

 In two different paragraph give your personal information to Kayla Horton  and Benjamin Schortgen 

 

 Kayla Horton 

Health care complexity arises out of the interaction of multiple factors. These include patient factors (e.g. personal, cultural, socioeconomic), health care practitioner factors (e.g. training, expertise), task-related factors (e.g health care task, workflow, available time and technology), regulatory factors (e.g HIPPA), team (communication, roles, leadership), and organizational factors (organizational structure, culture, policies, and procedures). Health care complexity is also implicated by increasing health care costs and the need for more advanced technologies. Importantly, health care complexity affects the quality and outcomes of patient care (Health QLD 2011).

The social expectations of healthcare are so complex due to the fact that society has so many different options to choose from when it comes to managing their care. There are so many different physicians that all specialize in the same thing, which gives patients more options to choose from for their treatment. Patients no longer have to go to a doctor’s appointment at an actual doctor’s office anymore, they can do a virtual, Skype, call with their doctor or even just chat with their doctor without having to set foot in an office. People can even get their prescriptions delivered to their homes instead of going to a pharmacy.

According to Erica Hersh, “successful health leaders recognize leverage and nature the connections that will help them intentionally drive their system” (Hersh 2018). A good healthcare leader should be able to successfully navigate through healthcare complexity by adapting their leadership mythologies based upon the complexities that they encounter, as well as having contingency plans in place in order to handle different issues that may arise from different circumstances. Continuing education is also very important for a leader to be able to handle the complexities of health care by learning the new technologies and trends they will be able to handle situations better.

Complexity and health care: Health practitioner workforce, services, roles, skills and training to respond to patients with complex needs. (2011, January). Retrieved January 15, 2020, from https://www.health.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0027/150768/complexcarefull1.pdf

Hersh, E. (2018, March 28). Leading Through the Complexity of Health Care Change. Retrieved January 15, 2020, from https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/ecpe/leading-complexity-health-care-change/

 Benjamin Schortgen 

The healthcare industry’s workforce is very complex especially when considering non-traditional components of healthcare.  Aside from physicians and nurses, the most thought of members of healthcare, there are a vast number of non-practitioners involved in the healthcare industry.

Some examples of these include; pharmaceutical company employees (chemists, engineers, and accountants), equipment manufacturers (technicians, engineers, and robotics experts for example), and a wide variety of support staff (facilities and cleaning staff, food services, and security among others). 

Hospitals, pharmacies, manufacturing locations, and research facilities all come with their challenges to manage the environment.  In Warsaw, Indiana for example, there are several biotech companies employing biomedical engineers and robotic engineers for designing and mass-producing artificial joints and limbs.  Environmental controls in these facilities are vastly different than what one thinks of when considering traditional industrial assembly lines.  Everyone from the design engineers to line workers are required to wear special protective equipment and the facilities oftentimes must maintain sterile or close to sterile environmental conditions on the floor.

Socially, healthcare facilities and especially hospitals are held to a higher standard.  Custodial staff at a shopping mall, for example, have many tasks similar to hospital environmental staff.  The expectations and repercussions of custodial staff making a mistake in a hospital are vastly different than their non-healthcare counterparts and carry a much higher potential than those working in other industries. 

A good leader should have a broad knowledge and understanding of how things are supposed to go.  Exceptional leaders would be able to take a step back from this then and understand how lay persons might feel and react to those same processes. (peoplefluent 2018)

https://www.peoplefluent.com/blog/recruitment/5-most-important-skills-healthcare-leaders/ (accessed 1/11/2020)