Two types of health management committees within a health care organization are a Labor Management Committee and a Health Information Management Committee. Both of these committees have unique roles and face deal with different problems within a health care organization.
A labor-management committee acts as a facilitator of fairness and cooperation between labor and management to achieve efficient operation of the health care organization. They would accomplish this by addressing problems between labor and management, brainstorming for possible solutions that would be agreeable to both labor and management and setting goals. A labor-management committee may also build joint labor-management committees to handle various issues. For example, a Staffing and Advisory Committee would address issues such as nursing schedules and time off or a Health and Safety Committee would address workplace safety concerns for the nurses.
A Health and Information Management Committee ensures that each member of the medical community upholds his/her responsibilities to the well-being of the patients, that the medical provider maintains his/her professional and personal well-being and that he/she maintains a reputation that promotes truth and honesty.
Both committees can influence the process of health policymaking outside of their Health Care Organization. When certain policies accomplish what they were intended to accomplish, word of mouth spreads the news. Successes that are written up in news letters also help to spread the word.
Ethical dilemmas that these committees may face could include nursing errors that are made due to the nurses being overworked, potentially causing harm to a patient. Another example would be, a member of the medical staff self-medicating with drugs obtained from the hospital pharmacy or by forging prescriptions.
Medical Care Organizations have a tremendous responsibility and it’s vital for the patients that they are run efficiently and ethically. The committees that oversee various areas of the organization can assist in this process.
Works Cited
(2008). Retrieved October 21, 2008, from Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital: http://www.intranet.lpch.org/mss/aboutUs/healthInformationManagementCommittee.html