Mayo Clinic

Introduction

Mayo Clinic is a non-profit healthcare organization in the US found in 1982 by William Worrall Mayo. The organization focuses mainly on delivering quality healthcare that promotes positive patient outcomes. It has a unique long-term strategy for addressing healthcare needs of all people. The strategy focuses on expanding its network growth, proper management of resources, improved nurse staffing and high patient satisfaction. By applying this strategy to provide patient needs, Mayo Clinic will manage to offer quality healthcare services to all patients globally.

Organizational Readiness

Mayo Clinic is highly prepared to provide efficient and quality services to patients. Several indicators show the readiness of the hospital. For example, the hospital has adequate facilities such as patient rooms and beds. Thus, it is possible to accommodate a large number of patients. Besides, the hospital has acquired modern technologies, particularly for collecting information and monitoring patients’ progress. Similar to other organizations in the US, Mayo Clinic has obtained the latest Electronic Health Records systems that improve service delivery to patients. Other areas the hospital has focused on improving its readiness for the next decade are increasing the number of nursing staff, training nurses, improving patient satisfaction and proper management of resources.

Increased Network Growth

Mayo Clinic Care Network is enough proof that the organization has an interest in expanding its operations. The clinic has attracted more than 40 healthcare providers from other countries such as Mexico, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and Puerto Rico (“Patient Satisfaction – About Us – Mayo Clinic”, n.d.). The organization also collaborates with other healthcare providers within the US to improve service delivery. During its first ten years of operation, the organization depended on its main and satellite campuses to build a strong reputation as the healthcare provider with the best facilities and services. The clinic operated on a model that it was the responsibility of patients to seek for its services. However, following intense competition and need for improved quality services, Mayo Clinic decided to increase its activities by sharing its experience and knowledge with other healthcare providers. The organization’s plan is to collaborate with many hospitals and health systems both in the US and other nations. The need to care for more patients is the driving factor for the organization’s expanded network (Pruthi et al., 2015). Through collaboration, the organization has acquired experienced staff, knowledge, information, and equipment applicable to solving some of the complex healthcare issues.

Nurse Staffing

Staffing in most of the healthcare organizations is a key determinant of the quality of services and patient-centered care (Clarke & Donaldson, 2008). Mayo Clinic is among the healthcare providers that understand the significance of maintaining a standard nurse to patient ratio. Therefore the organization hires associate degree nurses almost every year. The high number of nurses that retire prompts the hospital to keep increasing its staff to prevent any possible shortage.

The organization has a unique strategy for hiring and retaining nurses. First, it plans to hire more registered nurses to provide quality healthcare (“Patient Satisfaction – About Us – Mayo Clinic”, n.d.). Registered nurses focus on providing patient-centred care, a factor that can improve the reputation of a hospital. Therefore, despite the associated costs, Mayo Clinic will continue to attract more patients thereby making more profits. Second, the organization plans to train the current nurses on how to provide evidence-based practice. Indeed, most nurses rarely receive professional training after completing their education. Therefore, hospitals find it difficult to fill vacancies left by experienced staff. Through a rigorous training program, Mayo Clinic intends to equip all nurses with evidence-based practice knowledge that can help in dealing with a large number of patients during the next decade. Finally, the organization plans to retain more nurses. The strategy will involve reducing the number of working hours, increasing salaries and establishing a healthy work environment.

Resource Management

According to Anderson (2013), provision of quality patient care depends on the effectiveness of resource management in hospitals. The four types of resources that define the quality of care are patient information, specialist surgeons, post-operative beds and resident physicians (Anderson, 2013). Mayo Clinic has a proper plan to manage its resources. First, the hospital focuses on improving the performance of its resident nurses and specialist surgeons. The management plans to create healthy working conditions that will satisfy the physicians. In return, the hospital will expect its physicians to focus on providing high-quality patient care. Second, the hospital plans to improve its infrastructure including the post-operative beds, medical equipment, and technologies. Finally, the organization seeks to manage the human resources using various approaches. Some approaches include defining goals which all nursing staff, physicians, and surgeons should meet. Besides, the management plans to invest in human resources by recognizing and valuing performance of each employee. The last strategy is maintaining the current information technologies that enhance communication interaction between the nurses and patients.

Patient Satisfaction

The model of care for Mayo Clinic is to offer quality care to all patients (“Patient Satisfaction – About Us – Mayo Clinic”, n.d.). For the last 20 years, Mayo Clinic has determined the level of patient satisfaction by using surveys. The tool applied by the organization is the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS). Data collected using this tool includes the nature of communication between patients and nurses of physicians, the level of cleanliness and pain control (LaVela & Gallan, 2014). The hospital has a detailed strategy for managing high patient satisfaction levels during the next decade. The measures include providing patient-centered care, enhancing communication between patients and care providers, involving patients in decision making and expressing empathy and compassion (Pruthi et al., 2015).

Conclusion

This case study shows the level of preparedness of Mayo Clinic in dealing with a large number of patients in the next decade.  One of the organization’s strength is its extensive network involving more than 40 health care providers both within and outside the US. Besides, the organization intends to use the best nurse staffing practices to hire and retain experienced nurses who can offer quality care to the increasing number of patients. Another area the hospital plans to focus is management of its human, physical and technological resources. Finally, Mayo Clinic seeks to improve the level of patient satisfaction by applying patient-centered care, improving communication and allowing patients to decide on their best treatment plans.