Health Systems Administration - Essay Example

St. Louis-based BJC HealthCare, a $2.1 billion, 13-hospital system. In BJC's business model, the hospitals openly compete with each other on a wide range of fronts. There is not a combined medical staff, so referrals and revenue are fair game to all. BJC's marketing aim is to increase total revenue by gaining market share. By using a unique organizational model, it appears to be achieving both. BJC's model advocates local autonomy. Individual operating units set their targets and strategies to build their respective books of business.

The corporate marketing department provides key resources in marketing consulting, market research, database management, and a call center for business development. On behalf of its facilities, the corporate office fields 425,000 calls to the call center a year and manages 2.5 million records in a master customer database, euphemistically referred to as its corporate memory. In comparison with other multihospital system models, BJC's corporate marketing supports rather than dictates strategy.

"We are essentially a consulting resource to our facilities," said Tess Niehaus, director of corporate marketing for BJC. . key term for organizations pursuing competitive strategy--is strategically appropriate and beneficial in one or more service lines for most organizations. Monitoring capabilities will be present and external benchmarks will be accessed, but leaders are not acting on the information they receive. Some of the other warning signs typical of organizations with pending distress include board and senior management acceptance of poor financial performance, poor physician relations, lack of middle management depth, lack of accountability or illogical reporting relationships involving managers/ supervisors, erosion of a profitable payer mix, and steadily declining operating margins or increasing losses.

Another company, Bain & Company is a global business-consulting firm. Its main business is to assist the organizations to become more profitable through the use of various strategic techniques and leadership qualities. Bain is working to help companies find the next wave of profitable growth in turbulent economic times. Growth strategy is a core product of Bain & Company, and work with growth businesses around the world. Bain focuses on growth in terms of revenue, cash flow and shareholder value, all of which are needed for sustainable, profitable performance.

Bain focus on the fact that to grow successfully, a company must first properly define and focus on its profitable core. An organization can pursue business adjacencies that substantiate its core, that reinforced the capability to contemplate and quickly react to the competition, and that develop processes to eliminate or circumvent the inherent organizational inhibitors to growth. And when the core formula has run its course, or faces industry upheaval, it times to renew your strategy and capabilities.

They help managers