Week 06 – Work Design and Communication Strategies

This week you are asked to prepare the policies and procedures for the clinic scenario that was presented in the Course Project Introduction in Week 02.

 

Policies and Procedures

Policies are a type of plan from which goals can be set, action taken, and decisions made. Organizations usually have both organization level policies and also department level policies. Therefore, health services managers at all levels in an organization are involved with writing policies and procedures. Regardless of level, each must be consistent with the mission, vision, and values of the organization. An organization or department should have a policy manual. Most of the time these are found on an intranet; we rarely see the traditional paper manual any more.

Procedures are another type of plan. Procedures are a series of steps to accomplish a specific task. They are plans for action. Procedures are usually developed for repetitive tasks to give it uniformity and for training purposes. Each step in a procedure should be numbered. Careful attention should be given to the writing of the steps to ensure that each is clear and brief. Also, each step should begin with an action word.

Organizations most often have a standard format, heading section, and numbering system for the development of policies and procedures. These should all be adhered to for consistency purposes. Both policies and procedures should also be reviewed regularly to ensure that they are kept up-to-date. To help with this process, always include a “date written” and a “date revised” for each.

Conduct research to view examples of policies and procedures. It is best if these are from health care organizations, but any examples will suffice. Make note of how each of these is written and the types of things that are included. This will help you to determine what sections and information to include in your own document.

Through experience and/or research, you will need to be familiar with the area or process that you choose. Examples might include the following: Confidentiality, Email Usage, Faxing, Sexual Harassment, Patient Registration, or other topic of your choice.

Compose a policy or a procedure for the fictional organization described in theCourse Project Introductioni n Week 02. Keep in mind that sometimes a policy and procedure might be combined into a single document. You may write a policy or procedure for the organization as a whole or one for a specific department.

Submit your completed assignment to the drop box below. Please check the Course Calendar for specific due dates.

Save your assignment as a Microsoft Word document. (Mac users, please remember to append the “.doc” extension to the filename.) The name of the file should be your first initial and last name, followed by an underscore and the name of the assignment, and an underscore and the date. An example is shown below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 02 – Role of Health Services Managers

Overview   Health services managers use various “tools” every day to fulfill their roles and responsibilities in their organizations. It is important to understand what these tools are and how they are used by health services managers. This project introduces several tools used by health services managers, and also gives you the opportunity to develop “real,” workable examples of your own for a set scenario. If in the future you accept a position working as a health services manager, you will then be equipped with the knowledge and skills to create and use managerial tools to effectively perform your role. Goal of the Project In this project, you will prepare tools that a health services manager would use in a set scenario. You will be asked to expand the scenario and prepare the necessary tools for management. Due Date In Week 10, you will present all of these tools to your manager (instructor) in the form of a portfolio. You should consider the comments that your instructor has provided when making revisions for you final submittal. Time Line In your position as the Clinic Manager, you are asked to prepare the following tools as part of your job duties: Week Assignment 02 Part I Mission, Vision, and Values 06 Part II Policy/Procedure 08 Part III Organization Chart 10 Part IV Tools for a Health Services Manager For this part of the course project you create a summary as well as submit your portfolio. Requirements For this course you will be asked to prepare a portfolio of tools for a Health Service Manager. The final portfolio must contain: Mission, Vision, and Values Policy/Procedure Organization Chart Summary This will be built at various stages throughout the course (as noted on the time line). It is recommended that you conduct research for examples of the required tools (health care specific will be the most helpful). If you work in the health care field already, you might have examples at work that you can look at. Or, if you visit a health care facility, they may be willing to share some examples with you. Keep in mind that you cannot submit these examples as your project; you must create your own tools. The tools you create will be based on the scenario below. You will need to be creative, as the scenario presented is purposely left to be very broad. You are the Clinic Manager at ABC Clinic, a rural family practice clinic which is part of larger health network. The clinic is located in a community with a population of about 9,000 people. The facility uses outside services for some advanced diagnostic testing; routine tests are conducted on site. Members of your staff include the following: Clinic Manager (1) Supervisors (3) Receptionists (2) Health Information Technician (1- RHIT) Medical Coders (2- RHITs) Laboratory Technicians (2) Radiology Technicians (2) Nurses (3- RNs and 3- LPNs) The Clinic Manager reports to the Director of Clinics. The two Supervisors report to the Clinic Manager. The two receptionists, the Health Information Technician, and the two Medical Coders report to the first Supervisor. The Laboratory Technicians and Radiology Technicians report to the second Supervisor. The six Nurses report to the third Supervisor. You also have four physicians on staff. Though there is no direct reporting relationship between you and the physicians, you do have a staff relationship with them. Evaluation You will be graded on the professionalism of your portfolio and tools. Make your tools as “real” and workable as possible. Each part of the project will include a short lecture about the tool or tools that you will be preparing that week. These notes and instructions must be taken into consideration as you prepare your tools. Points will also be deducted for errors in spelling and/or grammar.