Review the scenario below and answer the questions that follow ABC Hospital is a small privately owned community hospital It has been struggling to survive financially as reimbursement rates have declined and consumers are being drawn to the larger state of the art hospital facilities in urban areas that are perceived to have better quality ABC Hospital was built in 1960 and has been operating in the same manner for many decades The hospital meets legal and regulatory requirements but has not kept pace with some of the newer technologies and patient conveniences becoming more prevalent in the health care industry o What strategies can the organization take to survive improve its performance and compete with other hospitals over the next 5 years o What are some advantages or disadvantages of these strategies Provide specific examples to support your answers To achieve and maintain a competitive financial performance does require a thoughtful identification and execution of strategic initiatives which will drive your organization s market and financial performance into the future The financial performance must be sufficient to meet cash flow requirements of your strategic plan Focus on the physician integration affiliate and align with other institutes or health care organizations collaborate closely with private payers adopt business and operational models better suited for future changes denial management should be a focal point revisit staffing costs at your organization set targets to reduce costs per day in the organization adopt health care IT solutions which can help increase your profitability and prepare of the future of your organization http www beckershospitalreview com hospital financial and business news 9 strategies for maintaining profitability in 2011 and beyond html The advantages of using these strategies is it s better to plan for your future Using these strategies will increase your chances of success It is always a bit nerve racking changing your strategies for your business but the way today s economy is change is a good thing If the organization aligns themselves with another health care organization they will get referral patients and vice versa which will increase business Targeting and reducing the costs per day might be a little excessive but to a struggling business it will become profitable in the long run Response 2 ABC Hospital has been unable to make critical network and equipment upgrades due to a lack of funding but when a hospital is forced to operate with outdated technology it can lead to communication failure and result in costly medical errors Morris 2009 If the current operational methods are not working then change is needed to improve the quality of the hospital ABC hospital needs to change their manner of operation and redesign the hospital to be effective in the long run McLaughlin Kaluzny 2006 The hospital could change from a privately owned hospital to a public hospital or even a non profit hospital The hospital must be updated from a 1960 s look to a more modern facility that is easily accessible for patients The hospitals technology must be updated to reduce risks to patients Some new technology could include electronic medical records and telemedicine and undated medical equipment which will reduce medical risks and improve the quality of health care Morris 2009 Employing well trained qualified and quality health professionals will improve the quality of care and improve the hospitals reputation When updates happen an open house could bring future patients to admire the new looks and advantages to the hospital Advantages of updating the hospitals technology and the look of the hospital will offer more to the public and bring more patients to the hospital thereby improving the hospitals financial situation Disadvantages are the investing money to change technology and upgrades to the hospital building can be expensive and risky The risk would be improving the hospital and its image could fail to bring in more patients References McLaughlin C Kaluzny A Eds 2006 Continuous quality improvement in health care 3rd ed Sudbury MA Jones and Bartlett Retrieved March 08 2011 Morris J 2009 Leveraging Technology to Improve Healthcare Retrieved March 08 2011 from http i zdnet com whitepapers Qwest CriticalConnectionsLeveragingTechnologytoImprove Healthcare pdf