5 Key Competencies for a Healthcare Administrator

Healthcare is a dynamic and multifaceted field that requires administrative professionals that are flexible and adaptive. Healthcare administrators have to undergo a robust training in the various complexities in relation to providing patient care and have to possess interpersonal skills and business savvy to manage healthcare organizations.

A collaborative effort of various healthcare leaders, under the guidance of Healthcare Leadership Alliance (HLA), provided a list of these skills. The 802 identified competencies fall into five categories of core competencies: communication, leadership, professionalism, knowledge, and business skills. Healthcare professionals can refer to the HLA competency directory for self-assessment of their strengths and limitations. However, it is essential to understand these core competencies and their application in the healthcare industry before assessing oneself.

Communication and Relationship Management

Healthcare administrators need to be able to effectively communicate and relate with patients, vendors, physicians, industry leaders, investors, government authorities, and fellow administrators. Healthcare administrators must be able to show each of the above cadre of persons that they are of equal significance. This expression of equality in importance may become challenging especially when various parties have competing interests. Therefore, relationship management, which demands excellent communication skills, forms an essential attribute of any healthcare professional.

An effective leader understands that communication goes beyond oral skills; it also entails the ability to listen, write, and effectively present information. Healthcare professionals must ensure that each of the parties with whom they correspond maintain focus on a major goal that aligns to the organization's values.

Leadership

Leading involves being more than just the boss; true leadership entails demonstrating class, character, and leading by example. Good leaders identify and recognize the particular needs and priorities of staff, and develop creative approaches for promoting teamwork while influencing others to align their priorities with the organization's objectives.

Successful leaders are sensitive to the organizational situation and apply organic strategies for goal orientation and enabling effective change within an organization.

Professionalism

In line with being a firm leader, healthcare administrators must also radiate professionalism. This relates to much more than maintaining steady composure in the face of adversity; it also pertains to modeling an accountable and ethical culture within the human resource. Additionally, professionalism encompasses demonstrating and facilitating lifelong learning. The healthcare industry evolves fast and therefore healthcare administrators need to be on top of recent mandates. They should strive to acquire knowledge and disseminate it while enhancing professional growth among team members.

Knowledge of the Healthcare Environment

A thorough understanding of the healthcare system is requisite in promoting professionalism. This knowledge includes the business side of matters in connection to finance, insurance, procurement, and payouts.  Other pertinent areas of knowledge include human resource operations, patient’s rights, risk management, and organizational policies.

Business Skills

A working knowledge of the business side of healthcare administration is not self-sufficient; healthcare administrators must apply knowledge and manage the diverse areas of operation relative to organizational performance.

Every competency and skill integrates with others at all times.

Implementing and Applying the Competencies as a Healthcare Administrator

Applying the competencies means merging them, so that they work together to build upon one another. For instance, without knowledge or communication skills, it is difficult for one to be a truly effective leader. The competencies may apply to the business of healthcare administration in the following ways:

• General Management: This refers to the day-to-day operations in which an administrator displays knowledge of procedures, professionalism in handling issues, and leadership in uniting staff towards a common goal.
• Risk Management and Quality Improvement: The administrators need to demonstrate professionalism, knowledge, and business skills as they make decisions about compliance, plan for potential threats and issues while looking for ways to improve operations and ensure delivery of quality care. Successful implementation necessitates solid leadership and communication skills as relevant parties and stakeholders have to understand and be in agreement with plans developed and implemented.
• Financial Management: There is need for proper and wise management of budgets and investments. Administrators have to exhibit leadership and communication skills in addition to their professional business knowledge by conducting financial analyses and by developing reimbursement strategies while forecasting the outcomes. This must then be communicated to partners and other administrative leaders to ensure everyone is on the same page.

These scenarios explore only a handful of the ways in which a healthcare administrator can successfully apply the competencies in a healthcare setting on a day-to-day basis. No one competency is more valuable than the other; rather, they are complementary, which is why healthcare administrators are such well-rounded individuals whose skills are highly coveted within the ever-expanding field of healthcare.

Maternal and Child Health in Kenya

Complications related to pregnancy are among the leading causes of mortality and morbidity among the Kenyan women. Majority of these deaths are due obstetric complications including hemorrhage, sepsis, eclampsia, obstructed labor, and unsafe abortion. However, healthcare providers, both in public and in private sectors, are making great strides in ensuring good maternal and child health (MCH). The Kenyan government has put in place policies and programs that aim to improve MCH services. Although there has been a remarkable decline in maternal and child mortality, there is need for more efforts to achieve better MCH.

Earlier Cost Implications

The out of pocket costs for maternity care services comprise a substantial proportion of the household income. Mean out of pocket costs for medical expenses related to normal delivery care represented 17% of monthly income, while complicated delivery care represented 35% in early 2000s.

In 2006, the mean out of pocket payment for normal and complicated deliveries in Kenya was approximately $ 18.4. Out of pocket spending for maternity services reduce as one moves to lower level facilities. The costs paid by women of the poorest quintile were not significantly different from those paid by the wealthiest women.

Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs)

TBAs are common in rural areas of Kenya and Africa. Their services are highly valued by the locals due to cultural considerations and accessibility. Only 33% of births in Kenya took place in the health facilities while 67% took place outside the formal health system in 2010. Recent studies indicate that delivery within the health facility or with a skilled attendant is much less common than antenatal care. Forty-two percent of women have a skilled attendant available at delivery, while twenty-eight percent deliver with TBA. The high percentage of women seeking the services of TBAs indicates the significant influence of TBAs on MCH. Many research findings propose the incorporation and training of TBAs in proper MCH care.

Free maternal healthcare

In an effort to achieve low mortality levels and increase accessibility to formal MCH care, the government of Kenya provides free MCH services. Although the services are financially accessible, the government needs to invest on infrastructure, quality of care, and personnel. These investments will promote geographical accessibility to timely and quality care.

Tasks for a new Hospital CEO

When one becomes a CEO of a hospital or any organization, he/she faces high expectations and pressure from all stakeholders. Everyone is keen to see an improvement on the level of output or profitability in relation to the change in an organizational leadership. Therefore, the new CEO needs to have a good understanding of the organizational operations and performance. This understanding is essential in developing a winning strategy for organizational success.

SWOT Analysis

The new CEO needs to carry out an assessment of the hospital’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The SWOT elements of situational analysis provide an insight on the current state of affairs of the hospital. The CEO can use the SWOT information to capitalize on the hospital’s strengths and minimize the weaknesses.

Analysis of Trends

There is need for assessment of the hospitals’ trends in two perspectives; financial and operational.  A financial trend analysis involves the study and comparison of financial performance of the hospital over several financial years. The number of financial periods suitable for assessment depends on the size of the organization, and the level of variance of financial information between financial periods. Operational trend analysis captures information on the performance level of hospital services and operations over several periods. This may involve the determination of a peak and a low season for various hospital services.

Financial ratios

Most organizations use financial ratios to measure their performance. Hospitals are not an exemption. Financial ratios on profitability, gearing, liquidity, among others, may be useful offer important information on the hospital’s current performance.

Margin performance audits

A departmental assessment of costs and contribution margin for all the cash generating departments is essential. This assessment helps in identification of cash-cows, cost-effective departments, and profitability potential of cash generating units.

Performance audit

It is necessary for the CEO to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the hospital’s performance. In terms of costs, there is need for assessment of preference costs, overhead costs, support service costs, and purchase service contracts. Performance audits also extend to the hospital’s human resource and facilities. The reporting ratio in human resource and efficiency of facilities need consideration.

Analysis of Contracts

The hospital’s contracts for products and services need a review. The review provides information on the contract terms, costs, and rationale for the choice of a vendor. Other critical issues for consideration include commercial pricing, bundling, revenue splitting, capitation, and underperforming contracts.

Revenue capture

A review of points of service collections is important in determination of efficiency and effectiveness in revenue collection. This may include analysis of denials and underpayments.

Moral obligation

The CEO needs to assess the hospital’s involvement in corporate social responsibility and practice of ethical behavior. There is need for determination of the value of the hospital’s services by comparing quality and pricing issues.

Once a CEO has done all these tasks, he/she has power and authority to raise the hospital’s performance and productivity.

JND in Healthcare Organizations

Successful healthcare organizations adopt innovative practices of modern-day businesses. Just Noticeable Difference (JND) refers to the minimal stimulation that a consumer can sense between two products. That smallest distinction in the stimuli that two products raise best explains JND. Healthcare organizations need to identify the JND of their products/services to ensure that the adverse changes in their products/services are not noticeable among consumers. The knowledge of JND of products is also essential in ensuring that the positive additions made on the products are visible and obvious to the customer. Customers view sudden change as a threat to their psychological comfort about a given product or service. Health product marketers have to introduce a change in a gradual manner in order to retain the confidence of the clients in the products.

Gradual change

When healthcare organizations intend to implement change in their products or services, the organizations need to make this change gradual for clients to accept the change. Marketers should be keen on JND issues especially when it comes to changing brands or logos of products. This change needs to be gradual so that the customers find themselves already part of the change rather than feel a sense of shock because of a change. For example, the case of Sony Entertainment’s acquisition of SAB is a perfect application of JND in marketing. Introduction of changes in the logo of SAB was gradual, and this had a significant influence in retention of customers or viewers.

Pricing policies

Marketers can use JND in order to make critical pricing decisions for their products. Pricing decisions usually result from keen analysis of healthcare costs and their associated profit margins. However, research shows that the human mind may not recognize an up to 10% variation of price whether an increase or a fall. This lack of recognition is irrespective of the type of product/service in consideration. Health organizations need to make pricing decisions based on a 10% margin. For example, in order for an organization to raise its prices, it is advisable for the new price to be less than 10% higher in order to retain its customers. If an organization intends to offer discount on its products, the pricing decision should involve a reduction of the price by more than 10% in order for the offer to be apparent and appealing to more clients.

Maximization of earnings

Healthcare organizations can secure their earnings by proper application of JND. The organizations can reduce their product size slightly so that consumers may not recognize the difference. The organizations tend to use this technique of maximizing earnings if the organization fears to increase its prices for the commodities. The reduction of the size of the commodity just below the JND enables the organization to cover for high cost of raw materials and increase earnings. This type of strategy best applies to companies that make confectionaries. These companies modify the size of their products in a way that the consumers cannot tell any changes. Other products undergo variations in terms of composition depending on the cyclical availability of certain raw materials.

Eye-catching changes

However, in situations where marketers introduce a positive attribute in a product, they need to ensure that the attribute stands out. The achievement of this strategy is through making the change significant than the threshold in indifference. For instance, when a pharmaceutical company introduces a flavor or a chemical agent, the company should ensure the flavor/agent is noticeable in the products so that the clients can see a sense of value addition. The companies may also change the packaging of their products in order to catch the eye of the client. These conspicuous changes in the product characteristics easily affect consumer perceptions and change their attitudes towards the products. Other characteristics such as the fragrance and pricing can also help in the making of a product stand out against those of competitors. In situations of too many brands for a given product, marketing needs to focus on the visual and appealing features of the products by making them surpass the threshold significantly. When an organization spices up these modifications with a vigorous and impactful promotion that puts the focus on the positive modifications, there is a high chance of success in the industry.

Advantageous growth

Application of JND is helpful to brands with weak identities, which raise confusion in the distinction with other products. Such brands can sell by imitating established brands in the market. This application of JND in order to make weak brands similar to reputable brands makes it a good marketing strategy for organizations of the weaker brands. The organizations of weaker brands can gain a significant market share and sell more as they capitalize on the indifference they create in the market.