Introduction
Health is a universal human value, as important as happiness and welfare. Thus, health is essential in the life of every person. Also, it is a crucial aspect of national security. It determines the possibilities of achieving individual and social well-being and the prospects for sustainable development. In current conditions, the importance of health is significantly rethought, considering its understanding as an inalienable individual right, in terms of existing threats, challenges, and growing demands on the quality of health. The fundamental goal of any health care policy is the availability and quality of medical care and therapeutic services.
Therefore, at the national level, the primary purpose of any country is to build an effective model of the health care system and achieve the highest level of public health with minimal resources. In order for the country to have developed medicine, it is necessary to provide each state with the necessary equipment and provide employees with constant access to education.
The North Carolina Medical System has one of the most reliable indicators of the status of medical care. The North Carolina Health Care System is a comprehensive health care practice that provides care to patients in all counties of the state. Moreover, such a system is one of the leading national academic centers of health practices. Another benefit is that the clinic has many specializations for both adults and children. Due to the extended structure of the organization, the cost of servicing the company and its employees is extremely high. Although, despite the massive structural mechanism, the health care system is functioning properly.
That is, the organization cares about the health of the entire state and receives the award as one of the most certified hospitals. Therefore, research into North Carolina’s healthcare system will improve the development of new strategies and strengthen healthcare policies.
The investigation will use literature that describes the development of the medical system in North Carolina (Cutts & Gunderson, 2017). Emphasis will also be set on the benefits of a medical organization (Collins, 2021; Tonges et al., 2018). The internal and external environment of the medical organization will also be studied. Factors such as the economic situation and finances will be described in detail (Greaney & Richman, 2018; “America’s health rankings,” n.d.). Report from the strategic plan will be used to create a development plan, which will improve the situation of the organization (Strategic plan 2019-2021, 2019). Accordingly, there is a lot of scientific and verified information for the research, which will allow a comprehensive study of the issue.
Analysis of the External and Internal Environment
The North Carolina Health Care System is a unique organization that grants assistance and extensive collaboration experience that has no counterpart in North Carolina or beyond. The company has gained prestige in medicine thanks to its impeccable reputation, innovation, and availability of services. Therefore, creating a development plan concurrently with investment can contribute to further improving the health care system at the local level. Accordingly, the analysis of internal and external factors affecting the organization’s position in the field of medicine is of great importance for further improvement.
Therefore, it is first necessary to investigate the internal environment of the North Carolina Health Care System. Thus, it is a non-profit health care system that provides medical care to the state of North Carolina. The health system is extensive and currently comprises thirteen hospitals and also suppliers of equipment and medical supplies (Collins, 2021). In addition, the organization also includes clinical programs in the Medical School, which support to the development of innovative strategies.
A Medical Center provides the primary treatment. It is designed to help patients and train health professionals. The center also works with Medical schools to conduct research. The North Carolina Health Center structure is extensive; it includes a memorial, a children’s hospital, a neurology clinic, and a women’s hospital. The medical staff of the center has more than seven thousand employees (Collins, 2021). Therefore, thanks to a large number of professional doctors, the clinics provide high-quality medical care to patients and additionally train the medical team.
The North Carolina Memorial Hospital is the only public academic and medical center available to residents of North Carolina and neighboring states. The following structural element is the North Carolina Neurosciences Hospital focuses on psychiatry, and research laboratories. However, it also offers practices in neurology, neurosurgery, and otolaryngology. The team of neurosurgeons has experience in a wide range of subspecialties, including aneurysms and cerebrovascular diseases.
Professionals also suggest a multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of cerebral hemorrhage and cerebrovascular diseases such as stroke. Moreover, the clinic has an intensive care unit equipped with a portable computer tomography to detect progressive hemorrhage or edema (Tonges et al., 2018). At the medical center, the highest priority is to provide care individually for each patient.
Another structure of the medical center is the Women’s Hospital. The clinic offered a full range of medical services, from observations of women to relapse prevention. It also suggests family planning and midwifery services. Much attention is paid to mammalogy and breast cancer prevention. Therefore, routine checkups are popular and necessary for every woman. Indeed, the hospital also allows the opportunity to consult a gynecologist and participate in public women’s health programs.
The center also has a Children’s Hospital and provides assistance to more than seventy thousand children annually. This is the main reception center for children who are in extremely serious condition. The hospital’s structure was also created so that the outpatient center and the wards were located in the same building (Tonges et al., 2018). Thus, this section will permit doctors to respond faster and more effectively to the deterioration of children.
The North Carolina Cancer Hospital is the only nation oncology clinic in the state that accepts patients from all counties in North Carolina. The clinic contributes to effective cancer control, including prescribing, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and surgery. Patients also have the chance to engage in clinical tests of the latest treatments. This opportunity is provided because the North Carolina Health Care System takes part in the development of the latest drugs.
Hillsboro University has become a new service in the health care system. It is necessary for emergency medical care. Hillsboro’s medical office currently provides services such as dermatology and skin cancer care, women’s care, and urological services (Tonges et al., 2018). In addition to the medical center, the internal structure includes a medical school, rehabilitation centers, and other hospitals that are located elsewhere.
The main purpose of joining a large number of hospitals in the system is to provide quality care to patients in accordance with the standards of the North Carolina Health System. The Carolinas Health Care System can use complete data to improve patient care through its Dickson Advanced Analytics division. Thus, the department analyzes clinical data to provide practical information about one patient and the general population (Tonges et al., 2018). The department’s purpose is to create predictive models that will help the health care system predict public health trends.
An important organization involved in the system is the network of doctors, which includes more than ninety categories and more than three hundred physicians who provide a full spectrum of fundamental care and specialization services in fourteen counties in North Carolina. Physicians lead this regional network to meet the professional needs of doctors and the communities they serve by building a partnership between physicians and North Carolina Health Care providers to work together to address challenging health conditions. Also, a stakeholder is the Senior Alliance, an organization accountable to Medicare. The organization brings unitedly various components of medical care, from primary care to doctors (Cutts & Gunderson, 2017). The Senior Alliance network also includes providers working in communities as well as those working in the North Carolina Health Care affiliates.
Funding for local health services comes from various sources, and the exact amount of funding varies significantly from one local health authority to another. Considering that North Carolina’s medical system is one of the leading in the United States, it receives meaningful funding. As a receiver of federal and state funds, the Carolina Health Care System is responsible for guaranteeing that all requirements are met by prevailing legislation and regulations. Combining integrated health policies and procedures with an internal control system ensures this compliance (Greaney & Richman, 2018). Carolina’s health care system submits monthly reports to the State Audit Office that reflect its overall activities.
The government pays sixty-seven percent of the cost of medical care in North Carolina. Next year, following the terms, the federal government will pay ninety percent of the charge to cover the development. North Carolina Health Care generated an operating income of just $5.7 million (0.1% operating margin) in the 2020 year, which resulted mainly from a sharp decline in volume. At the same time, expenses increased in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ordinarily, the North Carolina Health Care’s ongoing goal is to average an annual operating margin of nearly four percent to remain financially strong, reinvest in new facilities, and retain the most highly trained workforce. Thus, the organization’s internal structure is expanding, providing a full range of medical services to residents of North Carolina. The organization also allows research on new drugs to create innovative drugs and treatments. Consideration is also paid to the education of already professional doctors for continuous improvement (“America’s health rankings,” n.d.). Funding allows the health care system to open more and more hospitals and profit from its activities.
Taking into account North Carolina funding and government assistance, it can be concluded that the total cost of the Medicaid expansion in North Carolina is $ 2.1 billion in the previous fiscal year. However, funding has risen to $ 4.2 billion in this fiscal year. The enhanced federal match will largely offset these costs. As a result, North Carolina will receive $ 1.9 billion in federal dollars for the 2020 year and $ 3.7 billion in federal dollars for the next fiscal year.
The share of government expenditures to be financed will be covered by a combination of taxes and insurance payments, which are levied in advance. Thus, the organization’s internal structure is expanding, providing a full range of medical services to residents of North Carolina. The organization also allows research on new drugs to create innovative drugs and treatments (“America’s health rankings,” n.d.). Consideration is also paid to the education of already professional doctors for continuous improvement. Funding allows the health care system to open more and more hospitals and make a profit from its activities.
Outlining the Strategic Plan of the Organization
The North Carolina Health Care System works to take care of the health and safety of all residents of the state. The organization operates with a wide range of partners to provide services to the most vulnerable populations, such as children, the elderly, and people with disabilities. Thus, the strategic plan will be aimed at expanding assistance programs. An essential strategic step to improve residents’ comfort is to change the principle of the Medicaid program. Thus, the method of giving for the services provided will change (Collins, 2021). The system by which doctors and other healthcare professionals demand to pay for each service provided will change to managed care.
The expression ‘managed care’ is used to define a type of care that focuses on reducing costs and maintaining high-quality care. The most typical health plans available today often include managed care features. These include a full range of services, medical supervision, prescription drugs, and more. That is, the new approach will let for less money to take a full range of services, which is selected according to human requirements (Strategic plan 2019-2021, 2019). Thus, heads of structures should inform patients about new opportunities. This can be done by creating courses that explain the benefits of the current program and how it manages. It is a professional explanation that will allow organizations to introduce innovative changes quickly.
The next step in the organization’s development is quickly expanding cooperation with stakeholders to resolve the opioid crisis. Despite the fact that there has been a positive trend to reduce mortality from an overdose over the last four years, the problem is still unresolved. Therefore, the organization’s actions, such as reducing opioid use and reviewing prescription drugs, will assist improve the situation (Strategic plan 2019-2021, 2019). However, training is needed to raise public awareness that alternatives are completely safe for health.
Changes in the health of children are necessitated, and an established plan of measures for the supervision of kids from early childhood will enable controlling the comprehensive development of children. Such a project will be based on the safety of children, the atmosphere, and family upbringing. This is extremely important because the basis for learning and healthy behavior is formed during the first eight years of the child.
Therefore, hospital managers’ obligation is to decide how to implement the plan. It may be necessary to create routine examinations for children and, if identified, to provide special conditions for the child. Another competitive strategy for the organization is to increase access to health care in rural areas. The policy can be implemented through periodic visits to experts of various specialties to remote rural areas for review of people and hospitalization if necessary (Strategic plan 2019-2021, 2019). Thus, this solution will help all citizens of the state to receive medical care and increase the quality of health.
The following action is to increase the number of residents who have health insurance. The value of this move is that nine hundred thousand North Carolingians do not have an insurance policy that would cover spending on medical services. The solution to this situation is the introduction of the Medicaid program, which will enable low-income people to gain access to insurance. In order to implement this goal, hospitals must provide information on the possibility of obtaining insurance in this way and, through information methods, allow online applications. Considering the health care system in North Carolina has a large internal structure, direction needs to invest in existing hospitals and rehabilitation centers (Strategic plan 2019-2021, 2019).
Thus, it is necessary to identify the requirements of each medical hospital and, accordingly, to provide them with the latest technologies, increase the number of places and expand the medical staff. Such measures will help keep the organization competitive and will stimulate an increase in the number of patients.
The next goal of the strategic development plan is to provide the organization with highly professional employees. In order to achieve this objective, it is necessary to conduct an analysis in all health care facilities in North Carolina in order to find out which specialists are missing. Thus, it will be possible to improve patient care by inviting doctors of narrow specializations. At the exact moment, it is important to develop the level of knowledge of existing doctors by creating training where they can share valuable experiences. Also, due to the epidemiological situation, high-quality treatment in case of coronavirus infection should be included in the development plan (Strategic plan 2019-2021, 2019).
Thus, it is necessary to provide the department with the necessary devices and medicines that will admit for effective treatment. At the same time, the whole population should be informed about the benefits of vaccination, and everyone should be provided with the vaccine. The implementation of such actions can be done through notification through the media.
Thus, the outlined plan will help the organization identify priority areas for development and support in solving urgent problems. The medical system can be further improved, but the effectiveness of innovation requires the support of all participants. That is, management should provide opportunities for system development, and physicians should take the initiative to meet the needs of patients. Only by combining initiatives and a solid foundation for their implementation will the North Carolina Health Care System remain ambitious.
Conclusion
The North Carolina Medical System is a combined health care system located in Chapel Hill. The system provides care to patients in all one hundred counties of the state through thirteen hospitals and hundreds of clinical practices. One of the nation’s leading academic health systems is a $ 5.4 billion company with more than 33,000 employees. Also, the internal structure of the system includes five specialties for adults and seven specialties for children.
Accordingly, public funding and investment provide the implementation of the best strategies to provide patients with affordable and quality treatment. The medical system also works with third parties to provide all hospitals and rehabilitation centers with the best medicines and equipment. Accordingly, the proposed development plan will advance the efficient delivery of services in order to remain a competitive company.
References
America’s health rankings. (n.d.). Web.
Collins, C. (2021). Focus on Philanthropy. North Carolina Medical Journal, 82(3), 221-222.
Cutts, T., & Gunderson, G. (2017). The North Carolina Way: emerging healthcare system and faith community partnerships. Development in Practice, 27(5), 719–732.
Greaney, T., & Richman, B. (2018). AAI’s Series on Competition in the Delivery and Payment of Healthcare Services: Part I – Consolidation in Provider and Insurer Markets: Enforcement Issues and Priorities. American Antitrust Institute, 31, 1-22.
Strategic plan 2019-2021. (2019). NC department of health and human services. Web.
Tonges, M., Ray, J. D., Herman, S., & McCann, M. (2018). Carolina Care at University of North Carolina Health Care. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 48(4), 222–229.