The health care management triangle is used by health care administrators to assist them in understanding the difficulties associated with health care management. It also helps them to implement changes in health care and to be able to offer quality health care. Just like a normal triangle, the health care management triangle has three sides. One side has the patients which are the consumers; the other has the employees and the third side the financial health of the organization. This triangle shows how resources are exchanged or transferred in providing health care and in its financing as well.
The employees who are the health care providers transfer their services to the patients or consumers. The patients and/or the financing agents are involved in the transfer of financial resources to the health care providers. The exchange and transfer of resources can be direct or indirect. In the payment that is done directly, the patient pays the health care provider for the services offered.
For the indirect form of payment, it is the financial organization for example insurers who provide protection to people. This is done through insuring against the financial risk of becoming unwell. These insurers can either be private bodies or public. This form of payment permits the sharing of risks. They pay the health care providers through the revenues that they collect from the people they are intended to protect. The collected revenue is used for paying either the patient or the health care provider. There should be a balancing act between these three sides of the triangle for effective health care provision. It is therefore essential that each party plays their roles towards the attainment of health care.
For instance, the health care providers should give the patients the information that is required and offer them sound advices in regard to the services that will enable them achieve better health. The health care service acts as to interface between the health care providers and the patients and other people in the community. This ensures that problems are attended to in time. In this dynamic world, there should be communication, motivation and good leadership to ensure that all the parties in the health care management triangle are satisfied and to avoid conflicts within the different parties.
Communication can be viewed as the skill that is most important as a basis for understanding, provision of effective health care services and to comprehend the views of the employees. The patients should communicate clearly to the health care providers to ensure that they get the best health care services. Health care is concerned with the prevention and treatment of illnesses. Therefore, the patients should clearly describe their feelings to the health care providers to ensure that they get the right treatment for the right ailment.
Communication is also essential between health care providers for example the nurses and their administrators. This is achieved through allowing the health care providers to freely express their views on ways in which an organization can improve their services. The administration should take into consideration all the views that they get and implement those that are essential for the improvement of the organization and their services. The failure to communicate effectively results to conflicts and hence the provision of poor services.
Conflicts can arise due to the administration overlooking the other employees and also the employees being adamant to accept changes that are proposed and implemented by the administrators. When such conflicts arise, chances are that the employees will offer poor services and hence the health care institution will fail. Since the health of individuals is a crucial thing, there must be a clear and good understanding between employees and administrators.
Through motivation, health care is improved. The behavior of an individual rises due to their needs. By means of motivation, the performance of the employees is raised. When the employees perform well, then the patients benefit by getting quality services. The financial health of an organization comes in motivation in that employees can be motivated through wage and salary increments. There is no way the wages and salaries of employees can be increased unless the health care institution is in a good financial position. Therefore, all these sides of the management triangle for health care administrators should be balanced for effective health care services and maintenance of people’s health.
Another factor that is essential in health care management is leadership. For any business to survive there should be good leadership policies and management. The leader who is the health care administrator in this case should be democratic and ready to listen to other peoples views. By having a good leader, patients will tend to have confidence in the services that are provided. If any of the sides of the management triangle for health care providers is overlooked, there will be trouble in the health care institution. Therefore, there should always be a balance between the three sides. If any side is in trouble, effective measures should be put in place. For instance, no institution can be run without money, people can not be treated unless there are health care providers and employees, for example nurses will not work if there are no patients.
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