Introduction
The Jackson Health System comprises of various hospitals in South Florida. The health system has a bed capacity of more than two thousand and is known for great achievements including being the first hospital to perform all types of organ transplant for both the children and adults. Among the company’s hospitals are Jackson Memorial Hospital, Holtz Children's Hospital, Jackson Rehabilitation Hospital, Jackson Mental Health Hospital, Jackson North Medical Center and Jackson South Community Hospital ( Hickins, 2017, p. 1 ). In addition to these hospitals, Jackson Health System operates primary and specialty care centers. The hospital is sufficiently funded and has enough but the fluctuating number of staff. In collaboration with the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine faculty, the hospital offers a training ground for healthcare personnel. The Services offered at the facilities are essential in serving the people of Miami-Dade County. The facility faces various managerial issues that may be detrimental to the organization if they are not resolved. This paper looks into the issue of financial mismanagement and the possible solutions to the menace.
Statement of Issue
The main managerial problem being experienced in the Jackson Health System is the mismanagement of funds. According to Hickins (2017, p.1), wrangles in the leadership has led to the financial crisis, which may eventually cause a collapse. Funds are very vital in the running of any organization hence Jackson Health System may suffer a bad public image and crippled patient services. The hospitals may be forced to narrow down their services and offer only primary care services. As Dorschner ( 2012, p. 1) states, a former financial crisis at the Jackson Health Systems, saw many patients complain because of the closed pharmacy, unavailable dental care, faulty ultrasound machines and stopped X-Ray tools. Complacent leadership is not the best for a company which is fighting to reinstate its seemingly lost glory hence a change would be one of the best solutions.
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Due to the inappropriate use of funds, there have been complaints about the quality of services offered to patients at the Jackson Health System facilities. The families, of the patients, who think that they are not given the treatment that suits them, are given the opportunity to raise their complaints. These results when the health care facilities stakeholders ‘hire medical practitioners who ask for relatively low salaries because they are less qualified’ (Phua, 2015, p. 3). The organization may find itself unable to sustain a high wage bill for the more qualified medical persons. This situation compromises on the reputation of the health system and the overall health of the patients. The families that raise complaints of unsatisfactory services may be faced with the fear of being victimized. The financial problems facing the Jackson Health System need to be resolved so that all services can run smoothly and the public can gain confidence in it once again.
Related Research
The Jackson Health System has been forced to lay off some of its staff before, due to low patient turn out. The hospitals gained a negative reputation when the leadership seemingly indicated that they could not save the health care facilities through proper management (Gamble, 2015, p. 2). The patients experienced delays and low-quality services. The physician trainees are left in charge of the patients, and that poses a great danger to the safety of these patients. The academic physicians at the hospitals are not in the best position to carry out their research and at the same time offer sound medical services. It is therefore considerate for the trainee physicians go back to the facilities and work there ( Hickins, 2017, p. 3) . The experiences from this show the wavy nature in which the health facilities have operated under.
Healthy collaboration is a recipe for good oversight and provision of efficient services. Dorschner (2012, p. 3) states that the Jackson Health System came up with strategies to develop a true model of collaboration. This is in the effort to have a platform for various medical personnel to express themselves. The sharing of ideas helps in building a healthy working relationship as well as in correcting wayward action before they get out of hand. The medical personnel is also at free will to join any informal social groups that cater for personal social growth, instead of engaging in routine work throughout. The collaboration brings staff and management together to think of the best way forward in ensuring safety and quality services for the patient.
Possible Alternatives
Having a new leadership may be that best alternative for the ailing facilities. The leadership should be one that is purpose driven for Jackson Health to be able to compete with other high ranking hospitals. It is clear that the employees at the Jackson Health Systems facilities are aware of the loss of funds due to poor leadership. The possible result is that the employees tend to be reluctant at work since the leaders themselves lack integrity ( Hickins 2017, p. 23). Mistrust builds up, and it becomes hard for the leaders to give guidelines that would be followed strictly. In this case, more and more failures are yet to be experienced. Change of leaders or a reshuffle may serve as the best alternative for the Jackson Health System.
The other possible solution for the financial crisis is to utilize the most recent and effective technology systems in the keeping of cash records. This technology may be a computer program that records all the assets of the company. All entries made in the system should be monitored and updated on a regular basis, such that it would be possible to detect any discrepancies and the point in which they could have occurred ( Dietsche, 2018, p. 3) . It is prudent to work with financial professionals who can help in spotting fraud in entries and can suggest ways of avoiding other occurrences apart from netting the fraudulent officials. As Dietsche (2018, p. 2) posits, t hese records should be made available for scrutiny whenever necessary, to enhance accountability and transparency.
The financial crisis can also be solved by the current leadership through a thorough probe to the gaps that illegally allow finances out of the company. This is possible through the use of fraud detention strategies whereby external data is incorporated with internal data. These plans should be made known to the employees so that each becomes alert not to act against the company codes. Phua (2015, p. 23) states that informing every employee of the fraud detention plan is a prevention method in itself. All the financial officers need to be interrogated for any suspicious activity that may have led to the loss of the resources. Since money is a major determinant for the success or failure of the organization, it is prudent to make sure that lost money is recovered in the maximum possible percentages.
Recommendations
1. The health system needs to stipulate tough legal consequences for the managers who misappropriate funds so that it helps in curbing occurrences of such cases in the future. In cases where the unscrupulous managers do not have a legally binding agreement on how company’s funds should be utilized and accounted for, then they look for every loophole of benefiting personally and would not mind the state of the facility. Every possible route that the health system loses its money should be identified and closed. Presence of strict rules would instill fear and boost integrity for all the employees.
2. The health system should use cost-efficient methods of service delivery though the application of relevant health technology. Changes are inevitable, and the Jacksons Health System should implement methods that can be used to evaluate the success or failure of the technology methods. According to Garcia, CIO, the organization is set to plan on how to accommodate the changes that will come with the application of technology in the health sector (Dietsche, 2018, p. 2). All sectors of the economy tend to depend wholly on technology. These technologies would be more attainable than having vast human labor.
3. The Jackson Health System should strive to have good communication channels has much as possible. This would create a good connection between the healthcare providers and the patients. A relationship that is developed provides a healthy environment for self-expression and ensures that individual medical needs are met accordingly. The physicians freely discuss their challenges and the more experienced ones offer their a suggestion on how best to handle the challenges. As Gamble ( 2015, p. 26) suggests, a health facility can only achieve uniqueness when the health care professionals are well knowledgeable about their jobs. Apart from boosting trust from the patients, the service provider gains confidence in their work when.
References
Dietsche, E. (2018) Jackson Health System CIO’s prediction for health IT in 2019. Health IT, MedCity
Dorschner, J. (November 2012). Clinics, despite complaints about Jackson Health System, may continue partnerships. Miami Herald
Gamble, M. (2015) How a Banker Turns Around a Struggling System: Q&A With Carlos Migoya, CEO of Jackson Health System. Hospital Review
Hickins, M. (2017). Help Wanted: How Miami's Jackson Health System Managed A Staffing Crisis. Forbes
Phua, K. L. (2015). Global Health Governance in International Relations. Human Rights Review , 16 (1), 65-68.
