Healthcare services are directly linked to individuals’ health, reliability, and quality and so healthcare professionals are crucial in the provision of these services. The motivation, job satisfaction, as well as teamwork of the professionals have thus been measured as significant success factors towards the marketability of healthcare facilities. Motivation in this respect refers to the extent of willingness to exert and maintain an effort towards organizational goals, mission, and marketability. On the other hand, teamwork refers to the feeling of loyalty and pride that exists among members of a team such as healthcare professionals that makes them achieve efficiency and better performance. To this end, the motivation of professional staff enhances teamwork, which improves the facility’s performance.
Discussion
Team spirit and motivation have been linked to potential benefits for healthcare facilities, organizations, or systems including improved patient safety, seamless facility workflow, better healthcare culture, and job retention, which markets the facility to consumers of healthcare services. Considering the Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) as the point of reference, in 2013, the hospital laid off more than a thousand employees in an attempt to curb a 250 million dollars expense from its operating budget for the subsequent fiscal years (Becker’s Hospital Review, 2013). The massive layoffs were exclusive of the 300-employee dismissals carried out earlier in the year during summer. For the rationale behind the groundbreaking layoffs, the institution blamed the changes to Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement in addition to other revenue changes.
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Notably, Vincent Forlenza, a panelist and CEO of Becton Dickinson, contends that new trends in healthcare are disrupting the healthcare industry, and the passage of Affordable Care Act has intensified the trends thus worsening the marketing power of healthcare facilities –point in case, VUMC and the 2013 layoffs. Levins (2013) notes that since the economic crisis and the passing of the ACA, hospitals are spending less thereby reducing the spending growth, and those that have not cut their expenditure look to do so by slashing physician’s salaries as postulated by Audrey Meyers, the Valley Hospital CEO. Goldsmith (2014) ascertains that overall hospital pricing growth has declined to low single digits. In addition, he argues that physician alignment issues have been identified as the main problem in the healthcare industry, which leads to sour relationships between hospital systems and physicians dissatisfaction and demotivation.
The primary reason behind some of the layoffs and sour relationships that lead to poor market power is the lack of motivation and teamwork within healthcare organizations. Even though the emergence of ACA has changed the marketing terrain between insurers and health facilities, motivation and teamwork remain central to the overall growth of the facilities. In this regard, instead of laying off employees to cut down costs, facilities such as VUMC should empower their staff through inclusion in the decision-making process. In essence, the action will create a positive relationship, which in turn will result in motivation, job satisfaction, and team spirit. Consequently, a motivated and rejuvenated workforce translates to increased performance and marketing power through improved patient safety, solidarity, and flexibility among members. Moreover, communication will improve among professionals, thereby promoting good relations between the staff and the community (Kaya & Yuceler, 2016). Ultimately, such excellent performance and relations culminate in increased revenues, profitability, and accomplishment of the facilities’ objectives.
Mission Statement and Goals
Goals for Motivation and Teamwork
Employee motivation and teamwork are inherently affected by a set of specific professional, social, and economic factors. Thus, these goals will be efficient in ensuring motivation and teamwork in VUMC.
Strong Career Development
Career development refers to the possibility of a healthcare provider to specialize in a specific field or get promoted through the ranks. These opportunities in effect boost the personnel’s morale and thus the performance of the facility. Career development will be achieved through on the job training, appraisals, and regular promotions to be implemented over the next twelve months.
Maintain A Positive Relationship With Employees
Employee engagement and inclusion in decision making at the top level makes them feel like an important part of the team. Broadly, such employees are more satisfied and motivated, which implies that they are likely to demonstrate pride and loyalty to the physician-led facility. In the short run, the concept will solve the physician alignment issues burdening healthcare facilities and prevent future layoffs at VUMC.
Avail Adequate And Latest Medical Resources And Supplies
Clinics that suffer from insufficient and obsolete medical equipment and resources contribute to disgruntlement and frustration on the job and possibly attrition. Providing these resources and supplies will foster a seamless workflow and speedy delivery of services to patients and clients resulting in satisfaction of all parties. In the long run, this will provide the facility with a competitive edge in the market increasing its market power.
Improve Communication And Feedback
The current vertical communication and feedback system has not been sufficient. As such, it should be reinforced by horizontal communication across departments. Since this will require an organizational redesign, the concept will be implemented over the next six months. Employees will be communicated to regarding the progress and their duty towards the achievement of this goal. Moreover, the management anticipates that improving communication and feedback will ease the process of decision making, problem solving, and team cohesion among the staffs.
Provide Adequate Compensation
Rather than laying-off employees or cutting their salaries as a means of reducing expenses, they will be rewarded, reimbursed, and given bonuses at the end of the year based on their performance appraisal. Moreover, payment will be undertaken and completed promptly coupled with supplements to cover medical costs. Also, high performing employees will be given the privilege of accessing free child care services at the facility –a benefit previously given to laid-off employees. All these benefits are meant to not only result in satisfaction but also the retention of employees.
Mission Statement
To offer accessible, empathetic, cost-effective, and high quality healthcare services that inspire hope and wellbeing in both clients and patients through a dedicated team of educated and competent healthcare professionals that promote health and undertake relevant clinical research to improve the health outcome of the surrounding community.
Conclusion
Motivation and teamwork are essential aspects of a healthcare workforce and therefore the organization’s performance. Motivation and teamwork inherently produce job satisfaction and team spirit, which are two significant and desirable success factors for any healthcare organization. Therefore, laying off employees has a negative effect on motivation and teamwork. Healthcare facilities such as VUMC should not consider layoffs as the first-line strategies for reducing costs but rather should seek to motivate them, a concept that results in better performance, efficiency and increased revenue and profits.
Not to trivialize external forces such as policy changes and disruptive trends, but planning and marketing should first ensure that the internal employee environment is motivated and satisfied. In essence, without proper communication and feedback or engagement and inclusion in decision making, planning and marketing are doomed. In this regard, rather than incessantly looking outwards to improve performance through marketing, healthcare facilities should look inwards. Ultimately, since healthcare provision is a social service concept, a motivated and satisfied workforce leads to better performance in terms of better patient safety, seamless workflow and caring of patients, and better patient outcomes due to adequate resources and supplies will market the organization (VUMC), therefore, requiring less external marketing strategies.
References
Becker’s Hospital Review. (2013). Vanderbilt University Medical Center to cut more than 1,000 jobs. Retrieved from https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-management-administration/vanderbilt-university-medical-center-to-cut-more-than-1-000-jobs.html
Goldsmith, J. (2014). How much market power do hospital systems have? Health Affairs . DOI: 10.1377/hblog20140612.039598
KAYA, Ş. D., & YÜCELER, A. (2016). The Role of Teamwork in Patient Safety at Healthcare Institutions. Recent Advances in Health Sciences , 670. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314448658_The_Role_of_Teamwork_in_Patient_Safety_at_Healthcare_Institutions
Levins, H. (2013). Big changes for hospitals and medical device marketers: A roundtable explores some stark new realities. Health economist . Retrieved from http://ldihealtheconomist.com/he000080.shtml
