Determine the Current Issues SAHS is Facing
The Shady Acres Healthcare System (SAHS) is a medical facility that has grown rapidly over the last 45 years since its foundation. The organization has more than 742 workers with a large laboratory aimed at serving the citizens. However, SAHS have not had an easy journey in the quest to satisfy the customers or patients who visit the facility due to issues facing the organization as explained below.
First, the organization has issues related to the declining revenue especially in the home healthcare businesses, societal clinics, and the hospice departments. Moreover, most of the patients who visit the organization are not insured. Nevertheless, it happens since the organization uses a payment system that was introduced in the 1970’s, therefore, making the government aid the community in various health matters which makes the company’s revenue to reduce. The institution has skilled-nursing facilities which have made most people who visit the organization acquire state-owned insurances. Moreover, the government has reduced their aid for the skilled-nursing facilities that have made the company to make losses in these departments. The net income for the institution is low due to the poor economy which has risen because of the decrease in population in the healthcare and hospice facilities (Taiwo, 2015).
Secondly, the company also has challenges regarding the quality concerns of its community clinics. The organization needs to protect its reputation in the community to prevent any downturn (Berlowitz, et al., 2003). Moreover, SAHS can use the following ideas to improve some quality concerns; upgrading the Electronic Health Record system, expanding the system, developing assurances committees for various health facilities and using an improvement program. According to Wanda, and Washington, (2015) SAHS’s has had a major quality issue which is the lack of using EHR and integration. The EHR can be used to improve patient data in various ways, therefore, improving the safety and quality of medical care given to the patients. According to research, the use of EHR ensures that the customer’s information is up to date, complete and accurate therefore enabling the patients to see their records effectively.
SAHS has faced challenges related to employee retention although recent studies on the company show that most of the employees are contented with the services they receive from the firm (Kongstvedt, 2012). Nevertheless, the issues have come up due to other facilities offering the SAHS employees more benefits and payments. Loss of experienced staff members reduces the quality and reputation of the company. SAHS need to keep up with the market trends for recruiting trained personnel and therefore, the company should ensure that they offer the best working conditions to prevent their competitors from snatching the best recruits. However, training and hiring new workers comes at a significant cost for the company. The costs incurred are in the areas of advertising, interviewing, hiring, employee engagement and screening among others. Therefore, due to financial issues and other struggles, SAHS need to retain their employees by ensuring that they provide them with the best offers.
Possible Solutions
In the event of declining revenue, the SAHS organization can interact and come to terms with government legislators who can be of great aid in improving healthcare facilities and the societal clinics. The state legislators can always be relied on if an agreement is reached with the organization to cover for periods when there is a drastic reduction of assistance reimbursements. Additionally, another way to cut unnecessary costs is by providing preventive care to the customers since this will minimize their trips to the healthcare facility. There is need to increase marketing efforts in the organization in relation to the living facilities for the patients. Therefore, SAHS will ensure that all the patients including those who are assisted by the state in terms of insurance live in the same facilities as the others as this would reduce the costs (Kongstvedt, 2012). The community clinics and medical centers should be revised and re-evaluated which will make the organization to improve their marketing conditions thereby increasing the income earned.
To improve quality concerns, the organization can research EHR systems which are used by their competitors and other partners. Nevertheless, this move will enable the company to benefit in various departments. Additionally, the use of a good EHR improves the reputation of the company and the quality care for patients while decreasing factors which cause a decline in income such as errors and paper records. Additionally, the move makes it possible for the company to expand and improve their partnership while gaining more benefits from the EHR. The company can also improve quality concerns by appointing a committee which assesses and assures that activities in the organization go as planned. Moreover, the committee must consist of physicians, nursing personnel, and three other members who belong to the members of staff. Additionally, the committee should meet several times in a year to ensure that developments and implementation of objectives go as planned (Wanda, and Washington, 2015).
The organization should consider re-evaluating their payments to workers and the compensations they receive after work. Therefore, adjustments regarding salaries need to be made in order to make the company more marketable and to prevent the loss of trained and skilled employees to other healthcare facilities (Merhar, 2015). Internal marketing is also one of the ways in which the organization can retain employees. The management of the firm can achieve this by motivating the employees and pointing out the work they have done to improve the community. The employees get the feeling that they are appreciated by the organization and therefore, they are able to work without any doubts. Believe and trust in the company makes it hard for any employee to make transitions to different companies and in this way, SAHS can be sure that their star workers remain intact (Kongstvedt, 2012). Moreover, recruiting new workers and training them in advance ensures that SAHS maintains the trained staff they have instead of rushing desperately to hire new employees when the experienced ones retire or quit the organization.
Cause of Action
The following actions can be undertaken to improve the company’s condition regarding the declining revenue. First, the organization’s environment changes from time to time and therefore, the SAHS bylaws should be modified to enhance effective adaptation in the organization. Therefore, when this is done, the company will be in a position to improve the financial figures since the bylaws are aligned with the new products offered by the company. Moreover, according to research, the adjustments could make the company to make gross profits of 40%. Secondly, the company can lobby the state legislators with an aim to improve the income for developing more community clinics and skilled nursing healthcare’s (Berlowitz, et al., 2003). Through this cause of action, SAHS can deliver healthcare to the community even if there is a reduction in assistance reimbursements from the state. Marketing is another action which can be undertaken to prevent the decline in revenue. Marketing the organization’s services such as patient delivery can facelift the company and revamp its efforts to improve and achieve its goals regarding financial results.
The company can implement formal quality improvement programs which include total quality management, continuous quality improvement or performance improvement. For the company to improve quality concerns, the following principles should be considered (Alliant, 2015). The employees should use the program as a system and process, the focus of the program should be patient care, the program should also focus on the team involved in healthcare, and there is need to know how the system changes and works. The company needs to create a culture which will help the workers to be more innovative and involve themselves in teamwork, therefore, ensuring that they are satisfied with the job.
The best cause of action to maintain staff in the organization is by offering better compensations and salaries than the other medical facilities. However, the company’s’ financial condition might not support this suggestion and therefore, SAHS can do the following to ensure that they retain their most experienced employees. The company can use surveys to benchmark the rates of employee retention, implement trusted strategies for employee retention, provide an environment to the employees where they can give feedback on their satisfaction in the firm, offer different benefits for various pay grades and provide better health plans to the workers (Merhar, 2015).

References
Alliant. (2015). Guide to implementing quality improvement principles. Alliant GMCF. Retrieved, from https://www.gmcf.org/AlliantWeb/Files/QIOFiles/Nursing%20Homes/Implementing%20QI%20Principles%2010SOW-GA-IIPC-12-237.pdf
Berlowitz, D. R., Young, G. J., Hickey, E. C., Saliba, D., Mittman, B. S., Czarnowski, E., … & Moskowitz, M. A. (2003). Quality improvement implementation in the nursing home. Health services research, 38(1p1), 65-83.
Kongstvedt, P. R. (2012). Essentials of managed health care. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Merhar, C. (Nov.2015). Employee retention- The real cost of losing an employee, http://www.zanebenefits.com/blog/bid/312123/Employee-Retention-The-Real-Cost-of-Losing-an-Employee Accessed 28th Aug. 2013.
Taiwo, M. O. (2015). A phenomenological exploration of issues and opportunities on physician usability of electronic medical record adoption (Doctoral dissertation, University of Phoenix).
Wanda, T, & Washington, D., T. (2015). “Intrapreneurship 2. The Proposal.” http://www.academia.edu/download/45818333/Bus508_Assignment_2-_Intrapreneurship..docx