Change and Culture Case Study Essay

During the past decade the hospital industry has made profound organizational changes, including the extensive consolidation of hospital system through merger and the formation hospital systems (Evans & Gertler, 2012). The rules of health care are changing. Growth is not about just getting bigger. It is about developing all of the components needed for coordinated care and reduced costs. Health system reform has various incentives, such as those related to reducing readmission rates, and establishing an accountable care organization, but qualifying for them requires closer links to other parts of the medical care chain (Breakthroughs -Hospital merger and acquisition strategies, 2012). There is a definite value for growth opportunity through hospital mergers. Mergers occur for several reasons, a desire to increase size, to gain leverage for negotiations with managed care companies, the desire to penetrate new markets to attract additional customers, the need for improved efficiencies resulting from centralized administrative practices, and the desire to express value of promoting readily available comprehensive care. A merger is the combining of two or more corporate entities to create one new organization with one licensure, and one provider number for reimbursement purposes (Liebler & McConnely, 2008). Mergers and acquisitions in health care are increasing in numbers because of the increasing financial, socio-political and managerial challenges of decreasing reimbursement and increasing payor demand for quality-driven, patient-centered and cost-effective services to the community. Restructuring an organization through mergers, and affiliations are characteristic organizational efforts to achieve economies of scale, adapt, and survive. Two such specific reasons include: the need for improved efficiencies through administrative centralization, such as financial, and health information resources streamlining, and marketing intensification, and the desire to promote comprehensive, accessible are by keeping smaller community-based facilities from closing. Valley Care Health System of Ohio consists of the merger between Northside Medical Center, Trumbull Memorial Hospital, and Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital. Valley Care Health System replaced Forum Health name as an affiliate. â€Å"Valley Care sums up our purpose to provide compassionate, quality health care for residents of the Mahoning, and Trumbull Valley† said David Fikse, chief executive officer of Northside Medical Center, and Valley Care Health System.† Each of our hospitals, and health care facilities has its own unique characteristics, but as the same time, we benefit by sharing our knowledge, our best practices, and our strengths across a system of providers† (Valley Care of Ohio, n.d.). Northside Hospital quality scores were down, and the hospital was on the verge of closure before Valley Care Health System purchased it. This essay will discuss the transition of the employees and the impact the merger will have on the culture of the new combined organiz ation and will address how systems will be developed as the new organization takes shape. Trumbull Memorial Hospital and Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital brings us best in class capabilities in inpatient and outpatient services. Blending these companies in a way that maximizes these capabilities and aligns our structure with our long-term strategy is a top priority. First, the managers will need to organize the new organization around the core business needs. These core business needs will form the nucleus of the new combined organization and each business unit will provide resources, decision-making authority, and direct control over matters critical to its success. Because each area is unique, the exact structure of what is contained in each business unit will vary somewhat. Middle management jobs have become more demanding. Technology means middle managers have to do more multi-tasking and are expected to be accessible to their staff. The middle manager of a health care organization that has merged with a competitor faces many challenges. Northside Hospital viewed Trumbull Memorial Hospital and Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital as an enemy that provided good quality of care to the community. Trumbull Memorial Hospital and Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital have very good inpatient and outpatient service programs in place to services the Mahoning and Trumbull County residents. Northside does not have good inpatient and outpatient programs in place. The key is to a successful merger is taking the best of all organizations to form the new organization. The cultural change of a merger between two competing hospitals is a major challenge. Incorporating two organizations into one disrupts operational, functional, and organizational elements at all levels of the organizations involved. This disruption produces stress in all stakeholders, and challenges all to achieve positives results during the transition period and beyond. The higher the change occurs in the hierarch of the organization the greater positive or negative effect on the company. These types of mergers bring about organizational change from the boardroom to the hospital floors, and the impact of integrating two distinct entities with different prior performance, mission, and values has a short and long-term ripple effect throughout the new organization (Evans & Gertler, 2012). An effective manager will foster trust with his or her employees through communication and commitment. A managers’ goal is to maintain a supportive role with the employees without causing chaos. The encouragement of employee participation will make he or she more likely to comply with changes because he or she will own part of the changes. Each organization has its own way of doing business. Employees are used to the way their organization currently works. However, job descriptions, and roles of many hospital employees will change as a result of the merger. Many challenges occur when a merger occurs; especially when it occurs among competitors merge two different organizations into one facility per se disrupts the operation and functionality on all levels involved within the organization. During this transaction, it is an opportunity to combine many knowledgeable individuals, introduce new styles of performing tasks, and introduce different styles of performance. Enhancing meaningful learning by integrating technology into instructional design is central to this project. The most influential theory associated with this process is the cognitive theory of multimedia learning proposed by Mayer (1997). It is based on the theory that humans have two ways or â€Å"channels† of processing information, auditory, and visual, otherwise known as the dual channel assumption. By leveraging both of these means, and by building both of these c onnections between multiple representations of the same information meaningful learning is more likely to occur (Ofverstorm, n.d.). Hence, hospitals are trying to cut costs and deliver care more efficiently, a goal of the 2010 federal health care overhaul; however some mergers can lock up local markets, leading to higher prices for patients and insurance companies with few other places to turn. This is known as an anticompetitive hospital merger (Kendall, 2012). ProMedica Health System, of Toledo, Ohio, tried to attempt a merger of this kind when they went after St Luke’s Hospital in Toledo, Ohio. The Federal Trade Commission ruled that this would eliminate competition in the Toledo Market therefore the acquisition was denied. Middle managers need to support the employees in handling of uncertainty, provide information, and struggle with changing the behaviors of the employees. A middle manager also experiences some individual complications, such as loss of network and reduces in responsibilities. Because middle managers are the carriers of the information, they have to deal with pressure within the organization, partly from the higher management and partly from the employees and manager below him or her. Employees affected by an organizational change require answers to reduce their uncertainty that has occurred with the reform. Employees may also intentionally or unintentionally work against the organizational change, which clashes with top management’s intentions and plans. The dilemma for the middle managers is that they have a large responsibility to execute the strategies put up by the top management, but have no actual authority over these strategic decisions that affects middle management and the employees. Those problems are particularly evident in mergers and acquisitions, which are seen as most dazing organizational changes (Ofverstorm, n.d.). References Breakthroughs -Hospital merger and acquisition strategies. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.healthleadersmedia.com Evans, A., & Gertler, P. (2012). Trends In Hospital Consolidation: The formation of local systems. Retrieved from http://content.healthaffairs.org Kendall, B. (2012). Regulators Seek to Cool Hospital-Deal fever Retrieved from http://wsj.com Liebler, J., & McConnely, C. (2008). Management Principles for Health Professionals (5th ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and BArtlett. Ofverstorm, A. (n.d.). A Middle Manager’s Dilemma in Mergers. Retrieved from http://arch.hhs.se Valley Care of Ohio. (n.d.). Valley Care Health System of Ohio. Retrieved from http://www.valleycareofohio.net