The Memorial Hermann Hospital Sugar Land Case Study
Strategic Analysis and Profile
Just like employees like to be motivated with a rewards program or a benefit program, businesses react the same way, they are motivated to compete to be the best when receiving rewards or benefits. We are all motivated by a rewards or benefit program. Every company wants to be the best in their market. This is where the Baldridge Performance Excellence Program fits into the big picture.
Synopsis of business case chosen
The Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital was a 2016 recipient of The Baldridge National Quality Award. The hospital is one of the largest non-profit health care facilities in the South eastern part of Texas. They provide care in the following areas, cardiology, diagnostics, emergency care, radiology or imaging, occupational, speech, and physical therapy, rehab, and many more. With 641 employees on hand, they make a revenue of about $135 million.
They rank in the top 10 percent of the performance scale. With patient safety at the top of their list, they have a low rating of medical mistakes that should not be made. Employees are engaged with their patients and are more caring than most hospitals are. I have been to several different hospitals and most of them don’t care about their patients, all they care about is the time it takes to get them in and out. Not only have they been awarded The Baldridge National Quality award, but also a financial award.
Strategic decisions
Making good strategic decisions has helped lead the Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital to receiving the recognitions that they have gotten. The two most important things to keep in mind when making strategic decisions are the employees and patients. The hospital’s management teams encourage workforce engagement, open communication and high performance from the team members. Having an open-trusting and engaged working environment, employees are going to perform at a higher level and boost productivity. Employees are hired through a three-step process to find the applicant that will strongly fit the hospitals core values of family caring for family. They focus on the patient’s safety first and time arrival to discharge. They also use computerized ordering system for the physicians, making it easier to request medicines and diagnostics for the patients. They also focus on hand-hygiene to prevent the spreading of germs. Their strategic decisions focus on making patients first and keeping their employees involved.
Strategic source and competitive advantage
Strategic source is a process used by an organization to continuously improve their activities and performance ratings. The first thing the hospital is wanting to improve on is the education and prevention for diseases and chronic conditions. The goal of this is to provide patients or people with information and tools to help them keep track and improve their health and well-being. The next thing they are wanting to improve on is the coordination among providers and continuum of care. One way of doing this is to have all emergency room notes to be electronic and be accessed by the providers anytime and anywhere. The next strategic source is to increase the number of providers and make care affordable. As a non-profit hospital they provide financial assistance, government programs, and other programs to help patients afford care. The Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital has many strategic sources to keep improving their performance and financial ratings.
Competitive advantage just isn’t about cost, pricing, branding, etc. It is also about the people, culture and structure, technology and processes and practices. “People are the driving force of competitive advantage” (Mar, 2013). They engage their employees and allow them to openly communicate, which leads to a higher performance level from the workers. By the workers caring for and building relationships with patients and each other, they are driving a competitive advantage amongst other hospitals. Speaking from experience, I would rather go to a hospital where the nurses and doctors care about me and listen to me and my symptoms and not a lot of hospitals do so. The hospital and employees are all on the same page as far as beliefs and the type of care to be provided to their patients. By being on the same page they will become more successful and create yet another competitive advantage over other hospitals. Having unique processes and practices, can be hard for competitors to duplicate or copy. This hospitals practices and processes include putting patient’s safety first and to care for all patients like you would a family member. Lastly, technology has become a major factor when it comes to competitive advantage. By allowing providers to access emergency room notes and update them anywhere and anytime, will decrease the patients waiting time and to diagnose and prescribe medicines quicker.
Future Strategic Decisions
The executive team at Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital plans to use what is called ADVANCE strategies, to help with the growth and success of their hospital. They plan to align with physicians. This means to have better access to specialists that is affordable for patients who are not in good financial standing. Next, is to deliver quality care to all patients. They plan to value their employees by engaging them more. They plan to also achieve their operational targets, which is any daily task or requirements that are required to keep the hospital running smoothly. The next three is, they plan to nurture the growth of their employees and the hospital, to be patient oriented and to enhance the health education of their community.
The vision, mission, purpose, philosophy, and goals and management strategy
The Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital used the values driven leadership system for their vision, mission, purpose, philosophy, and goals. The mission is knowing why you are doing what you are doing, and the vision is where you are trying to go. The hospitals mission is to provide quality healthcare to improve the health of those in Southeast Texas. Their vision is to advance the health care system through the care of providers and employees and to provide the best solutions with quality and value. Their philosophy and goal are to provide top quality health care to all patients and to provide their employees with the right tools for success.
The senior leaders of Memorial Hermann Hospital share important information with all employees. This led to competitive advantage, because the more involved employees feel or are, the more they will be motivated to perform at a high level and help the hospital to succeed and reach their goals. It also allows them to have a lower retention rate and patients in turn are more likely to recommend the hospital to others and use it as their primary hospital. They keep staff involved by doing rounds, to keep all nurses and doctors, when changing shifts, on the same page for their patients care. They also do breakfast with the CEO and family forums, which also allows for everyone, and not just employees, but the families as well to be on the same page.
Relationship between strategy and policy
Strategy and policy have a strong bond with one another. The main relationship is that they are used by the top-management level. The management team will set goals and a strategy for the organization. For example, creating a safe and caring environment for patients would be their strategy that is going to help grow the hospital. A policy of providing affordable care and using technology to admit patients faster and diagnose and treat patients quicker, while listening to their needs and taking their symptoms into consideration, would fit with the strategy. When developing a strategy, a policy can then be created to fit with that strategy, to help the organization grow and be successful.
Just like employees being motivated to be high performers using a rewards system, business’s need the same thing. If one business is rewarded an award like the Memorial Hermann Hospital, then other business’s in that market are going to want to compete with them to be noticed. By providing top quality care and engaging their employees, led the Memorial Hermann Hospital to winning the 2016 National quality award and financial rewards. They have also created a competitive advantage by keeping employees engaged, providing financial assistance for those who need it, and having senior leaders keep everyone involved with patient care and the hospitals visions and goals.
References
Haralson, G. (2016). Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital. Retrieved from:
www.nist.gov/baldridge/memorial-hermann-sugar-land-hospital.
Kokemuller, N. (2018). Strategic planning kit for dummies (vol. 2nd ed.)Indianapolis, IN: For
Dummies. Retrieved from: http://search.ebscohost.com
Mar, A. (2013 April 29). 6 sources of competitive advantage. Retrieved from:
https://business.simplicable.com/business/new/6-sources-of-competitive-advantage.
Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center. (2013). Retrieved from:
www.memorialhermann.org/uploadedfiles/_library/memorial_hermann.
Olsen, E.G. (2011). The relationship to strategy. Retrieved from:
https://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/relationship-policy-strategy-28938.html.
