Current healthcare issues
Current healthcare issue: Rapid changes in the care delivery system
Over the past years, the healthcare system has been accompanied by numerous changes resulting in re-engineered workflows and re-organized care delivery systems. As much as it is easy to embrace change in the work setting, it takes time to familiarize with the new workflows and care delivery systems fully. Such a change in the healthcare system organization is a stress factor as it significantly affects the quality of the workforce’s output and overall performance in the workplace.
The change within the workplace results from continuous technological innovations meant to improve healthcare systems at a national level and improve its capabilities (Ricketts & Fraher, 2013). With such changes, there are major changes in the workforce’s organization, such as assignments to new workstations and the creation of new roles and responsibilities. To adapt to this, the institution has worked to provide more advanced training and educational sessions meant to equip the employees with skills necessary in the execution of new responsibilities. Training and education sessions are also important as it is at this time that employees are equipped with skills to adapt to change and manage it. Eventually, it becomes easier to work with the new coordinated systems focused on providing quality and safe patient care delivery.
Legislative procedures have also significantly influenced the healthcare system’s rapid changes, hence affecting the workforce’s adaptability to their work. With the advances in the implementation of the US Affordable Care Act (ACA), there are constant changes in the workforce’s organization in most domestic healthcare systems (Pittman & Scully-Russ, 2016). As a response to this, the institution has pledged to participate in legislative procedures through employee and employer’s professional bodies whose opinion is sought when such legislative changes are being made.
References
Pittman, P., & Scully-Russ, E. (2016). Workforce planning and development in times of delivery system transformation. Human Resources for Health, 14(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-016-0154-3
Ricketts, T. C., & Fraher, E. P. (2013). Reconfiguring Health Workforce Policy So That Education, Training, And Actual Delivery Of Care Are Closely Connected. Health Affairs, 32(11), 1874–1880. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2013.0531