Healthcare Management: Memo
I think that healthcare management should be paid more attention as the overall health is not improving. Among the widespread reasons are too expensive access to health care services and people’s unwillingness to spend time on visiting doctor’s in time. Moreover, it is difficult for middle class families to get the Medicaid. The government puts many obstacles before families by providing laws and many families are surely unable to struggle for fairness. Congress made a series of attempts to fix the program and to implement new rules and corrections. The results seem outrageous, because new rules are too confusing and can be easily manipulated, whereas some rules were replaced. The impression is that government isn’t willing to part with money needed by families living in poverty.
Medicaid can’t be easily provided, though for elderly people it is a real chance to manage their affairs. Medicaid helps people to cope with poverty and to hope for better living. And these are the take away points for me as it is difficult to see people’s efforts to ensure descent living, access to health care, etc. That is why Tennessee decided to move Medicaid recipients to managed care. The process of program implementation is not an easy task and state administrators have failed to establish provider networks, to develop monitoring systems and to inform recipients of participating physicians. Why? Maybe state administrators forgot to distinguish between organizational plan and service utilization plan? Among the cornerstones are responsibility and accountability.
Organizational plan is associated with human resources and their training as staff will be responsible for program implementation. Training is effective way to achieve desired outcomes and program sustainability. Use of volunteers ensures greater achievements. Physical resources, transportation, managerial resources, monetary resources and informational resources are also of great importance as they are constituents of really successful program implementation.
Process evaluation is the final step in program implementation as inputs, efforts and results are checked on validity, all errors are removed and senior managers decide whether the process is finished. The questions to answer are: whether the process is implemented according the plan? Whether the program is able to achieve the objective? Psychologists are often worried about the mental health in schools as students undergo a series of stresses caused by examinations, problems with peers, unsuccessful love or sexual affairs. According to official statistics, more than 70% of students are in need of mental health services. It is necessary to admit events at Virginia Tech and Nickel Mines to understand that the problem of mental health deserve proper attention.
It is noted that “Mental Health In Schools Act of 2007 gives competitive grants to local education agencies in order to assist them in providing comprehensive school-based mental health programs for students in K- 12”. (ch.8) I think that this measure is necessary for stabilizing the percentage growth of mental problems among students. Therefore, the program ‘Safe Schools-Healthy Students’ are to broadened to provide students in need with necessary mental health support, to promote positive mental health, and to check students whether they are subjected to mental disorders. The program should be effective, efficient and efficacious as it should achieve the desired outcome, to maximize the potential and to respond to the intervention protocol.
As for me, the most important moment is program monitoring and the role of computers in program broadening. Nowadays it is hardly possible to image our life without computers, and the same situation is observed in all professional spheres. Computers make the monitoring process easier, faster and more accurate. Information systems has decreased the necessity to stock cases in files, to write down telephone calls and to tickler files of dates for contracts, meetings, etc. Social marketing should be incorporated to reach larger portion of population, especially poorer population.