Answer

Health Organization Case Study: United Healthcare

            United Healthcare group is an organization in the United States that provides managed health care services such as health care products and insurance services to all its users and citizens in the United States and other host countries. The company has been widely successful in its operations and was ranked fifth in the United States by revenue generation. It mainly focuses on various healthcare necessities of the citizens of the United States and comes up with strategic plans to cater for growth in the organization’s network for the next decade. They apply innovative approaches, products and services to help improve personal health and promote healthier populations in local communities with their core abilities including clinical expertise, use of advanced technology and data and health information in a unique way to enable them meet the evolving needs of a changing health care environment (UnitedHealthcare, 2018).

United Healthcare Readiness in Addressing the Health Care Needs of Citizens in The Next Decade.

            Current practices in the healthcare industry employ technology and clinical data to provide better healthcare services. United healthcare, being a leader in the industry, employs core competency applications of current technologies. For example, they have included apple watch as part of the products they use to promote healthier living among people. They also optimize their care resources through the insight they generate from massive amounts of clinical data at their disposal (Health Care Modernization, 2018). The organization also has a large network of competent physicians and other health care providers who ensure consumer engagement is top-notch. Given its status as a leading company in the health care field, the organization is able to get access to cutting edge medical innovations and pharmaceutical products which further enhance their ability to provide the best care to patients over the next decade.

Strategic Plans for Network Growth

Working with other healthcare providers in partnership roles is one proven to improve healthcare service deliver at reduced costs (Torchia, Calabrò, & Morner, 2015) and United Health has also leveraged this to expand their network. They partner with key players in the industry such as physicians and pharmaceutical companies and promote productive relationships that culminate in better consumer products and services. In trying to achieve network growth, the company as well unearths new sources of revenue to help bolster their reign and the top of the industry. Recently, the organization has aimed to expand its network by venturing into physician-run-urgent-care centers. These centers are advantageous for both the patients and the organization. The patients avoid having to make trips to the emergency room but instead visit these urgent care centers which are more cost effective. The organization, on the other hand, gets a chance to gain a stranglehold of such areas by developing such facilities further and better services other companies cannot match and thus promote their growth. Following United Healthcare’s acquisition of MedExpress, which is an urgent-care center run by physicians, the company added 140 facilities to their network (UnitedHealth Group: Positioned For Growth Over The Next Decade, 2016).

Strategic Plan for Nurse Staffing

Challenges of nursing staffing to ensure adequate provision of quality health care services to patients need to be dealt with properly. United Healthcare started the Center for Nursing Advancement for the purpose of training, coaching and mentoring its professionals in the nursing practice. This is aimed at enabling the organization handle the growing demands of patients better. Such nurses are also involved in the design of new and better service delivery models. The demand for nurses over the next decade is set to increase and as such, with the training opportunity offered by United Health, they will be able to meet the staffing demand required. They also have active and exciting career opportunities for nurses who might want to work with the organization in addition to supporting other nursing schools financially with the aim of improving service delivery in the next decade (United Health Foundation Awards Milwaukee Area Technical College $2.3 Million Grant to Expand Nursing School Capacity, 2018).

Strategic Plans for Resource Management

In order to provide better health care services to patients while maintaining their revenue streams, United Healthcare must manage their resources in a prudent manner. Such resources include their networks, clinical information and data, medical innovations and pharmaceutical products and human resources. Continued trustworthy collaboration with partner organizations ensure the goals of the organizations are still given top priority. The large amounts of clinical data they hold also are managed efficiently and applied in the development of new health wellness products and ideas to improve patient health. This is especially true given the availability of electronic records which can be easily analyzed to develop better insights into the healthcare market (Health Care Modernization. 2018).

Strategic Plans for Patient Satisfaction

Satisfaction of patients is the utmost goal of any health care service provider. Consumer-driven health care plans and value-based care are some of the ways United Healthcare aim to improve patient satisfaction. Value-based care has recently gained attention as one of the ways to address rising health care and insurance costs. With this plan in mind, United Healthcare have started focusing more of providers who are able to demonstrate that they can provide better patient care at lower costs. In value-based care, consumer experience is at the center of service provision. The emphasis is on keeping people healthy instead of just treating diseases. United Healthcare have created health plan options that are tailored to each community’s unique needs and offer better information and financial incentives to motivate consumers to choose better value-based care providers. This in turn helps improve patient satisfaction. The organization also has diversified its services in a bid to improve patient satisfaction. It is also promoting the use of mobile applications with the aim of reaching as many people as possible in the communities as well as video-on-demand applications used to promote health well-being among people. Such tools are especially valuable in the prevention of chronic non-communicable diseases such as hypertension and diabetes mellitus which overall improves community wellness (Health Care Modernization. 2018).

Comparison between United Healthcare and Singapore Airlines

            Though the United Heathcare and Singapore Airlines are organizations in different industries, comparisons can be drawn from the way they carry out their business. Both organizations had periods of profitability and expansion following their re-organization early on in their inception. They both also aim at increasing the amount of their success and stay on top of competition by constantly improving services to customers. Singapore Airlines provided more attention to the in-flight services to their customers. United Healthcare on the other has diversified their services and products while introducing value-based care in order to attract and retain more customers. In their own regards, both organizations are leading players in their industries. United Healthcare has been ranked fifth among US corporations in terms revenue amounts while Singapore Airlines is also among the best airlines in the world. The two organizations have both undertaken training and recruitment drives for their employees in order to offer the best services to their customers. They also both employ the use of new technology and unique products that improve customer satisfaction.