Examining Rebranding, Organizational Culture, and Operational Practices – Northwell Health

Examining Rebranding, Organizational Culture, and Operational Practices – Northwell Health

Background and Context

Northwell Health is a health facility that offers health services in New York. The non-profit organization has about 25 health and ambulatory facilities, which are located on Long Island and Southeast of New York City. Large facilities offering tertiary care also operate under Northwell’s umbrella, such as the Northshore University Hospital. In addition, there are special care facilities that offer pediatric and mental care, as well as community care facilities that are associated with Northwell Health. At least 700 outpatient care facilities operate under Northwell. Some of Northwell’s facilities provide training and medical residency opportunities to upcoming healthcare workers. The rest have services such as rehabilitation, emergency care, hospice, home care, pharmacies, surgery for outpatients, diagnostic, specialty, and primary care. Each year these facilities cater to at least 8 million individuals through the 14,000 physicians. It is renowned as the largest private employer in the healthcare sector, with at least 61,000 employees (SHRM, 2020).

The healthcare provider has recently used rebranding to reposition itself in the sector and eliminate any confusion surrounding its former name. The player was previously known as North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System. Both internal and external stakeholders frequently forgot, mispronounced, or misunderstood the long name. Besides eliminating the confusion by changing its name to Northwell Health, the facility also intended to inform external stakeholders regarding its responsibility and desire to offer preventive and not just curative care. Before the name change, the organization’s leaders sought to carry out rebranding from the internal environment. The rationale behind this approach was that the organization employs thousands of employees who are scattered over a wide geographical area (Gierlinger, Barden, & Giammarinaro, 2019). Therefore, it was necessary to have employees understand and believe the organization’s value and brand position. This would be followed by the evangelization of the same to external stakeholders through the employees. Undoubtedly, people are important to this process.

Secondly, the organization seeks to prioritize satisfaction among employees and patients alike. The management intends to use satisfaction as a measure of Return on Investment. On the national scale, the facility aims at raising the satisfaction of employees and patients to the 90th percentile. For an organization that records more than 100 hires weekly, turnover and employee wellness are critical. To engage these stakeholders, the facility hosted a ‘Walk to Paris’ that had winners fly to Paris. The main objective was to promote physical exercise. Therefore, the engagement of employees in various aspects that influence the organization’s health is the main avenue that is being employed to achieve customer and patient satisfaction. To complement the engagement process, the facility leans on its promise to clients. The organization’s CARE culture embodies connectedness, awareness, respect, and empathy (Gierlinger, Barden, & Giammarinaro, 2019).

The aforementioned strategies have been instrumental in aligning the business activities to the organization’s vision. Northwell Health is committed to realizing its goal of being the national leader in health care. Excellence is a critical aspect of this goal as well as compassion to improve the health of the community (SHRM, 2020). To achieve this vision, the organization strives to put the needs and wants of its patients first.

Organizational Culture

Northwell Health operates within an environment that emphasizes the need for CARE, an abbreviation that represents connectedness, awareness, respect, and empathy. Two main frameworks are used to live up to this culture. Firstly, the company’s model of communication (CONNECT) is critical in the creation and maintenance of meaningful relationships (Northwell Health, 2017-2018). These relationships affect employees and patients. They are critical to understanding the needs of both parties, delivering superior care, and creating a follow-up system that monitors the fulfillment of needs. The model of communication spells out specific behaviors that should populate daily interactions between patients and colleagues. These include contact, opening greetings, self-introduction, needs assessment (expressed and unexpressed), explanation to set expectations, seeking more ways of assistance, and showing gratitude. Secondly, the service recovery model (LAST) is important in de-escalating complaints from patients and providing professional resolutions. This model requires employees to Listen, apologize, solve, and show gratitude to the client for raising the issue (Northwell Health, 2017-2018). These models are critical to the employees’ capability to satisfy the needs of the clients exceptionally.

Operations Management Practices

Operations management is the administration of different practices to ensure that the organization is highly efficient. Thus, it entails the conversion of raw materials and human resources into needed services and goods. The main objective of this process is to ensure that the entity maximizes the profits obtained from these goods and services (Battistoni, Bonacelli, & Colladon, 2013). In the case of Northwell Health, the healthcare provider utilizes specific operation management practices that ensure the needs of clients are prioritized and met accordingly. These include training of employees, policy formulation, and coordinating communication.

To coordinate communication, the management has outlined specific policies such as Team STEPPS. This framework is intended to improve the safety of patients through communication among colleagues. It is characterized by short sessions of planning before work commences. At the end of the day, employees analyze the occurrences and suggest solutions for improvement. Employees are allowed to call abrupt and brief meetings for problem-solving. Resolution of conflict is governed by description, expression, and suggestion of possible consequences. Through SBAR (situation, background, assessment, and recommendation), the facility’s employees can communicate critical information that needs immediate attention (Northwell Health, 2017-2018). These communication elements are instrumental in ensuring the seamless flow of information from top to bottom and vice versa.

To ensure that the working environment promotes patient safety and enables appropriate service delivery, the organization has outlined specific policies that govern work procedures. Firstly, employees are not allowed to work while under the influence. All employees are responsible for providing information about potential drug abuse or diversion of controlled substances by colleagues for testing, investigation, and disciplinary action. However, individuals who possess prescriptions for substances such as marijuana are allowed to use it as prescribed. Secondly, policies regarding patient abuse are categorical about accusations, escalation, and investigation. The organization’s management provides clear guidelines to ensure that all patients are treated with humanity and dignity as they receive care. Thirdly, to promote and retain quality services, the management provides clear guidelines that employees should rely upon. These include prioritizing patients, engaging each, and empowering each. Ensuring that teamwork is maintained alongside respect between colleagues is highly recommended. Ensuring patient safety in all procedures and excellent clinical procedures are recommended. Colleagues are urged to maintain two-way communication to create trust and build safety around the work culture. While offering care, all employees should rely on evidence-based practices and maintain transparency (Northwell Health, 2017-2018). Promotion of quality is each employee’s role and is inculcated into the work procedures through specific actions.

Finally, the management provides training on various issues, including health literacy. It is defined as “the degree to which individuals can obtain, communicate, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.” The organization’s employees are expected to provide comprehensive information to patients as a process of engaging each alongside their family members. This process is expected to rescue treatment or medication errors, ensure that employees follow the treatment plans, and ease navigation within the system. To combat barriers that hinder the improvement of health literacy, the management has onsite language interpreters. In addition to these policies, the facility’s management ensures that employees use simple language, utilize the back method of communication, and encourage patients to ask open-ended questions (Northwell Health, 2017-2018). Each of these formulations is created to enhance care delivery, patient safety, and involvement of patients in these processes.

Key Terms and Principles

Engagement is one of the key aspects that is evident in the organizations’ operation management procedures. Client engagement is critical in every business as they are key in the service delivery process failure to engage employees and clients alike undermines the quality of the entire process. It also makes it difficult to address the exact needs and wants of the clients. Employee involvement is critical as it promotes the process of delivering quality services and products and fulfillment of the organization’s mission (Mittal, Han, & Westbrook, 2018). At Northwell Health, the engagement of both clients and employees weighs heavily on the safety of patients, observation of the policies, rules, and regulations that govern the process, and the quality of services.

Communication is a critical business element that promotes the appropriate delivery of services and products. The communication procedures and policies that Northwell Heath utilizes include employees and patients. Transparency and free flow of information are critical in ensuring that patients are involved in care delivery processes and the employees deliver the right care. Communication is responsible for ensuring that all employees are aware of the facility’s challenges and proposed solutions (Northwell Health, 2017-2018). It provides an opportunity to brainstorm and choose the most appropriate solution when an issue that jeopardizes the safety of patients crops up.

Recommendations

As an organization that has multiple facilities around the country, Northwell Heath’s management should ensure that the CARE culture is deeply ingrained into each employee. To achieve this end, it is necessary to provide intensive training sessions that allow employees from each facility to learn about the critical aspects of care that characterize the organization’s culture. In addition, the training programs should be simulated in a manner that allows efficient dissemination to large and small groups. Setting learning objectives is critical to the success of this process. As an organization that is currently undergoing a rebranding, the new image is important, and it can only be achieved if the employees share in the vision. Once an employee believes in a vision or mission, they find ways to fulfill the same while delivering care to patients. Most importantly, such training programs should include both new and existing staff members to create a similar expectation among the groups. Its frequency should also increase to allow employees to constantly refresh their minds regarding the same. This approach should enable employees to achieve the organization’s goals and observe the values that regulate activities at the facility. The expected results include employee commitment, client satisfaction, and loyalty.

References

Battistoni, E., Bonacelli, A., & Colladon, A. F. (2013). An Analysis of the Effect of Operations Management Practices on Performance. International Journal of Engineering Business Management, 5.

Gierlinger, S., Barden, A., & Giammarinaro, N. (2019). Impact of a Patient Experience Leadership Structure on Performance and Engagement. Journal of Patient Experience, 7(2), 1-5.

Mittal, V., Han, K., & Westbrook, R. A. (2018). Customer Engagement and Employee Engagement: A Research Review and Agenda. In Customer Engagement Marketing (pp. 173-201). London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Northwell Health. (2017-2018). Mandatory Program on Safety, Quality, Infection Control and Prevention. Retrieved from https://lionsden.molloy.edu/ICS/icsfs/mm/northwell_health_systems_hopsital_orientation_packet.pdf?target=6681410d-df80-452f-b61d-811e673dccd2

SHRM. (2020). Innovating the Employee Experience at Northwell Health. Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/learningandcareer/learning/webcasts/pages/1219andruspetrillo.aspx

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Examining Rebranding, Organizational Culture, and Operational Practices

The term paper is a comprehensive semester-long project. Students will complete this project using the steps described below. Your final project is your major contribution, where you will exhibit your learning. Students will individually select an organization, assess its managerial effectiveness, and make recommendations to improve its operations management plans and results through the approaches, principles, and methods learned in the class. You are free to choose an organization that you are familiar with, including an organization you have already started or worked for, or you may also choose a fictitious organization that you want to start sometime in the future.
This project will incorporate important concepts and frameworks introduced throughout the course and will demonstrate the student’s ability to understand and properly apply these concepts in real-life contexts.
The parameters and guidelines for the term paper are as follows:
• Select an organization, e.g., a corporation, company, firm, or association (ideally, an organization that you have some interest in starting or running) for an in-depth analysis of their operations management practices.
• The term paper should be at least 1,500 words with at least 3 scholarly references in addition to your eText for a minimum of 4 total references. Please keep in mind that the word count requirements point out the minimum amount of effort that should be put into the paper. Word count isn’t everything because the quality of writing and research matters as well, but it is an indication of the quantity of effort put into the assignment. Note that word count does not include title, abstract, or reference pages. Not following this requirement will significantly impact the grade.
• Use scholarly peer-reviewed references rather than websites. Scholarly references are generally more credible and make a more persuasive argument. Non-academic websites are not typically recommended for academic writing. While most of the information generally is correct, it is not always reliable because anyone can change the content, bias is often present, and it is not peer-reviewed. For example, it’s best not to use news websites, Wikipedia, investopedia.com, about.com, smallbusiness.chron.com, huffingtonpost.com, ehow.com, forbes.com, cnn.com, online encyclopedias, or similar non-academic websites. Articles on these types of websites are written by reporters or individuals who may or may not be experts in the field and, consequently, may have incorrect or biased information. Instead, it adds much more credibility to use the class eText, other related textbooks, and peer-reviewed articles, i.e. scholars have analyzed and evaluated the content for accuracy, quality, and reliability. Be sure to use the university library to help you find these types of scholarly references. The library has a database search setting that allows you to search for peer-reviewed articles only.
• It is acceptable to use a company website for research; say, for example, if you are researching Apple, it’s ok to use www.apple.com to describe their mission, strategy, financials, etc.
• The Term Paper should be well organized and encompass the above subject and content guidelines, and an electronic copy of the project should be submitted via Turnitin.
The Term Paper will consist of five major sections:
1. Background and Context: Discuss the type of industry, products/services, and how organizational vision and strategies have influenced their operations management.
2. Analysis of current operations management practices and organizational culture.
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3. Analysis of key terms and principles learned in class and how they relate to the current status and future goals of the company.
4. Your recommendations for the next 1-2 years of the company in regards to operations management. Ensure that these align with the organization’s vision and values.
5. References – Use at least 3 scholarly references in addition to your eText for a minimum of 4 total references.