Health Care Managers Roles and Functions
Health care managers play a part in many roles and functions. “A manager is anyone in an organization who supports and is responsible for the work performance of one or more other persons. Managers can have a variety of titles (including supervisor, team leader, division head, administrator, vice president, and more), but all managers share some common traits” (Lombardi & Schermerhorn, 2007, p. 7). Managing health care facilities is more challenging to deal with because health care managers are responsible for patients, staff, and the health care facility. Health care facilities include inpatient and outpatient health care facilities, clinics, doctor’s office, or hospitals. The four major functions of health care managers are to organize, plan, control, and lead.
“Healthcare management is the profession that provides leadership and direction to organization that deliver personal health services, and to divisions, departments, units, or services within those organizations” (Thompson, Buchbinder, & Shanks, 2012, p. 2). It is important for health care managers to organize and plan the daily functions of employees. Health care managers are responsible for the specific departments and the employees. For example, if an employee comes into work with no given task, mistakes can be made. Health care managers, especially, cannot afford to make mistakes because people look for health care facilities to fail. Health care managers must organize and plan for each day. Organizing and planning go hand in hand. To health care managers organizing requires “the process of assigning tasks, allocating resources, and arranging and coordinating the activities of individuals and groups” (Thompson, Buchbinder, & Shanks, 2012, p. 16). When planning health care managers has the employee’s interest at heart. Through planning health care managers helps employees achieve the day’s goals. The daily operations of
health care facilities require a set schedule of job duties for each employee to receive. “Decisions made by healthcare managers not only focus on ensuring that the patient receives the most appropriate, timely, and effective services possible” (Thompson, Buchbinder, & Shanks, 2012, p. 3). Each decision made by the health care manager will reflect on the health care facility as a whole. Individuals work behaviors reflects on the health care manager because the health care manager is responsible for the individual employee.
Controlling employees require a great deal of time and focus. Ensuring that job duties are being completed by employees can be very stressful to health care managers because maintaining constant contact, keeping track of job performances, and implementing new work procedures with employees can be challenging. Managing is challenging because most work environments consist diversified groups and health care managers deal with a wide range of personalities. Health care managers can control a group of diversified employees by making sure that each is accommodated and comfortable with the work environment. Also, make sure that no racial issues will arise. Accommodating diversified employees is the most important role health care managers have to face. Every job has to have controlling managers to ensure strict policies and procedures. As stated above health care managers cannot afford to make mistakes because making sure patients receive excellent customer service and best quality care is the more important.
Through leading, health care managers “build commitments, encourage activities that support goals, and influence others to do their best work on the organization’s behalf” (Thompson, Buchbinder, & Shanks, 2012, p. 17). Health care managers leading promotes team work and helping others feel comfortable to provide first-rate work and finish tasks efficiently. In order to lead health care managers must maintain daily operations by planning, clarifying, appraising, recommending, recruiting, encouraging, informing, and coordinating. By leading by example health care managers can ensure employees will provide the best patient care, in which will contribute to the health care managers bosses to recognize quality performance.
By taking this health care management class will help to understand how to deal with other employees regardless of job title. As a private nursing duty aide I am responsible for the care of patients living at home. Private Duty Nursing “is to provide continuous skilled nursing care for consumers with complex medical needs if the skilled care can be provided safely in the consumer’s residence” (“Private Duty Nursing”, 2013, pg. 1). As a private duty nurse, even though, I do not have the title as a health care manager by job duties are completed with no team. I feel like am a manager because I have to organize, plan, control and lead my patients to ensure they are receiving quality care and attention. I will take away from the class how to deal with and become a health care manager.
References
Lombardi, D. N., & Schermerhorn, J. R. (2007). Health care management: Tools and techniques in a health care environment. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Private Duty Nursing. (2013). Retrieved from
http://jfs.ohio.gov/OHP/consumers/PrivateDutyNursing.stm
Thompson, J.M., Buchbinder, S., & Shanks, N.H. (2012). Introduction to Healthcare . Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC.