Healthcare Assignment: Pathology & Imaging Service By United Health

Question

Task: Healthcare AssignmentDescription
Having identified a particular organisation from within the nominated industry segment, students will research the possible current and future effects of a single prominent environmental factor on that organisation and plan, script and record a webinar that explains those possible effects to current members of that organisation. Your webinar should educate the personnel on the impact of that factor on the work that they are doing now and its possible effects in the future.

Assessment Instructions
Students now present further analysis on how one environmental factor impacts operations and stakeholder groups in healthcare organisations in their chosen segment.

For example, a student could choose to examine how the issue of an ageing population affects the operations of privately-owned aged-care facilities. Another example could be an analysis of the effects limiting the numbers of overseas-trained doctors for public hospitals in rural and remote locations.

Students present their analysis as a 10-minute pre-recorded webinar aimed at staff of an organisation within the given segment. The organisation must be currently operating in the Australian healthcare industry, e.g. a specific hospital, clinic, service or program. The webinar should present for staff:

• An overview of the issue and how it is impacting the broader health sector
• Stakeholder groups and their perspectives on the issue
• The challenges and opportunities presented by this environmental factor
• Ethical responsibilities in relation to the chosen issue
• Recommendations for a strategic response to the issue

Answer

Introduction
According to the words ofHalcombet al., (2020, p. 563) undertaken herein healthcare assignment, healthcare system of Australia is considered as one of the best in the world that provides safe and affordable healthcare services with quality. The federal, state and territory with local governmental approaches, the healthcare policies and implementations influences the healthcare strategies in both private and government level. The pathology and diagnostic imaging service is one of the important segments in the case of Australia healthcare system. This involves the examination of body fluids and organs in order to identify the actual disease or injury. Different types of pathological model including the study of preventive measures have been used in the pathological application for ensuring the proper treatment.

Overview of the issues in the healthcare sector
With the rising chronic diseases and health issues among the population, the health care services of Australia is now going through a hardship of service development and delivery. The higher demand of the healthcare services are impacting on the organizational developments in the healthcare sector. As the ageing population of the country is creating higher demand for disease detection and other healthcare services, the costs are rising rapidly so that the healthcare organization is to cope with the affordability and quality of the offered services. UnitedHealth is renowned for affordable healthcare services but the significant rise in the market of diagnosis and pathology is impacting on the operational aspects of the organization. The healthcare organization UnitedHealth deals with a diverse range of activities and service delivery for the population that incorporates the external environmental influences like changes in demographic level and technology (Kurtz, et al., 2018, p. 271). However, the pathology and diagnostic services in the country are gaining significant demand and as a result a significant increase in pricing is being observed. On the other hand, in the era of innovation and technological advancements, the healthcare organization needs to invest more on technological implementations and R&D (Fine and Davidson, 2018, p. 516). The research and development sector of UnitedHealth still needs to enhance the focus on advancements in genomics-based disease detection and treatment and influence the pharmaceutical industry to align with the new developments in the sector. However, several organizations like America Holdings LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics are influencing the market with the pricing strategies and modulating the testing services. On the other hand, the organization operates through more than 125,000 employees and the consistent development of new skills and upgradations of services is another important factor for the organisation. Aligning the employees with the market demand and the new technological advancements is necessary to create better experience among the population through the services by UnitedHealth. However, these changes in the sector and the broader influences of the technology and demographic changes is one of the major issues in the healthcare system of Australia which is impacting UnitedHealth.

The challenges and opportunities presented by this environmental factor
Challenges for UnitedHealthPathology
One of the most important challenges for UnitedHealth is the rise of demand and cost of healthcare services due to the significant increase of various diseases. The Australian population is presently showing a rapid increase in diabetes and skin diseases related complications which has created a rise in the demand of diagnosis and pathology. The leading healthcare service UnitedHealth needs to maintain cost-effective approaches in providing healthcare on a large scale and the recent situation has created enormous challenges for the organization (Dixit and Sambasivan, 2018). On the other hand, as the world population is getting more exposed to advanced technologies like artificial intelligence, IoT, genetics and other digital technologies, the healthcare industry of the country is also experiencing higher demand for advanced science and treatments on a large scale. Apart from that, directing the financial strength focusing on innovation and development is also creating pressure for UnitedHealth. The global healthcare industry is focusing on innovation and technological advancements and the leading organization also needs to promote technological advancements in the healthcare sector by successful implementations. On the other hand, the rapid increase of diseases and the Covid-19 pandemic has weakened the operational efficiency of the organisation on a large level. Identifying the operational gaps during the crisis is necessary for the healthcare system of Australia to enhance the sustainability and performance strategies by reforming several pathological models and policies.

Opportunities for UnitedHealth
The higher demand of pathology and diagnostics can be encouraged by the new disease detection approaches like genomics-based disease detection and treatment of UnitedHealth. This factor has the potential to offer affordable services in disease detection for the mass population. Maintaining cost-effective approaches through implementing advanced technology can be one of the most significant objectives of the healthcare organization. For instance, the organisation is now emphasizing on IoT technology to monitor and detect several health issues like blood pressure, diabetes and other respiratory issues among the elder population. Apart from that, incorporation of the advanced technologies and focusing on genetics can influence the overall competitive edge of the organization. The sustainability report of the healthcare organization shows that UnitedHealth is now focusing on creating viable and healthy work practices by incorporating new technologies that minimise carbon footprints through the services (Gupta, et al., 2020, p. 6). This factor is another important factor in recent times that can influence the long-term sustainability and growth in the healthcare service sector. Investing in the new strategic developments and reforming the price structure, UnitedHealth has the significant opportunity to create and maintain a leading position in the healthcare sector of Australia. Moreover, identifying the different aspects of technological influences and the extensive globalization trends, the healthcare organisation has the potential to influence the overall healthcare system of the country by creating effective steps in healthcare service developments (Harris and Sharma, 2018).

Ethical responsibilities in relation to the chosen issue
Leading healthcare organizations like UnitedHealth possess a higher degree of standards of integrityin the case of implementing pathological models. The code of conduct of the organization focuses on integrity for the population of the country as well as for the employees of the organization. However, the recent issues of rise of price in the healthcare service sector and the pressure of implementation of technological advancements has several ethical considerations (Osbornet al., 2017, p. 2132). Protecting the patients through providing quality healthcare with affordable price structure is one of the most important aspects of the healthcare services of UnitedHealth. The organisation has a higher degree of accountability in creating fair healthcare practices that ensure equality among the consumers. The recent impacts on cost-effectiveness of the organisation due to significant rise in the demand of diagnostics and pathology have created an ethical dilemma in the organization. The accountability among the employees and associated healthcare professionals of UnitedHealth signifies the customer-centric attitude and service delivery. The effective approaches towards the rise in demand of the services through the strategic and fair practices ensure the accountability of the leadership of the organization. The mission of the healthcare organization ensures a higher degree of integrity among the overall healthcare system of the country and the employees for delivering fair healthcare services on a large scale.

However, the healthcare organisation is emphasizing on alternative approaches through advanced technologies that can create cost-effective solutions for disease detection for a large number of people. On the other hand, the implementation of advanced technologies like IoT and AI in the service designing of UnitedHealth has created a significant ethical conflict of personal and sensitive data management. Implementation of advanced technologies in the healthcare services deals with incorporation of diverse and large amounts of personal data which need ethical considerations (McCalman, et al., 2017, p. 4). The organization needs to achieve higher accountability in data storage and management which are associated with the individual concern and manipulation for undesired activities. However, the ethical responsibility of UnitedHealth signifies the establishment of the balance of power through price structure and information flow between the service provider and the consumer.

Recommendations for a strategic response to the issue
Developing a sharing vision
Sharing vision in the healthcare sector can create a higher degree of sustainability and service development that focuses on the consumers in a fair way. The rising demand of services and price hike in the Australian healthcare industry are needed to be developed more effectivelythrough cooperative approaches from the government organizations as well as the leading organizations like UnitedHealth (Skerrettet al., 2018, p. 22). On the other hand, developing sharing vision in the workplace has the potential to motivate the employees and be committed to the customer-centric service developments. Implementing collaborative approaches in the healthcare sector of Australia can balance the gaps of demands and influence the pricing strategy of the healthcare services in a positive and effective way.

Improved communications in all layers
Opined by Varghese, et al., (2021), effective stakeholder implementation has the potential to incorporate higher investment in the technology driven healthcare services. UnitedHealth can enhance the innovation and technological implementation by creating an effective communication system and collaboration with the different stakeholders and organizations in the industry. This factor can not only enhance the performance of the organisation but also can create sustainability by minimising the recent issues.

Transformational leadership
The contemporary time is showing enormous changes in the different sectors and Australia is experiencing a significant rise in the demand of healthcare services. To mitigate the risks of new business models and healthcare service developments, transformational leadership with effective change management and emphasis on innovation is required. However, the global leadership of UnitedHealth signifies enormous developments in recent years and the organization needs to identify the opportunities in a more pragmatic way. For example, the healthcare organization is currently focusing on environmental sustainability by designing the services in a way that minimizes the carbon reduction. However, transformational leadership and authority has the potential to drive changes not only within the organisation but also can influence the overall healthcare sector of Australia.

Increased team cooperation
The strategic implementation of highly efficient and effective teams can influence the service development in a positive way. It has the potential to effectively organise decision making that can create cost-effective approaches in service delivery. Apart from that, maintaining a higher degree of commitment and collaborative approach in UnitedHealth can influence the achievement of long-term goals like effective implementation of technology in healthcare services (Rafteryet al., 2021, p. 615). On the other hand, as the leading healthcare organization, UnitedHealth has the potential to create effective collaboration in the market which can influence the overall pricing strategy of pathology and diagnostics with other healthcare services.

Conclusion
It is to be concluded that the rising demand of healthcare services and the pressure to implement technological advancement in the healthcare system is creating a significant challenging situation for the healthcare sector. One of the leading healthcare organisations in Australia, UnitedHealth is experiencing several complexities and the company needs to focus on effective strategic approaches through transformational leadership.

References
Dixit, S.K. and Sambasivan, M., 2018. A review of the Australian healthcare system: A policy perspective. SAGE open medicine, 6, p.2050312118769211.

Fine, M. and Davidson, B., 2018. The marketization of care: Global challenges and national responses in Australia. Current Sociology, 66(4), pp.503-516.
Gupta, H., Tari-Keresztes, N., Stephens, D., Smith, J.A., Sultan, E. and Lloyd, S., 2020. A scoping review about social and emotional wellbeing programs and services targeting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in Australia: understanding the principles guiding promising practice. BMC Public Health, 20(1), pp.1-20. Halcomb, E., McInnes, S., Williams, A., Ashley, C., James, S., Fernandez, R., Stephen, C. and Calma, K., 2020. The experiences of primary healthcare nurses during the COVID 19 pandemic in Australia.Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 52(5), pp.553-563. Harris, A. and Sharma, A., 2018. Estimating the future health and aged care expenditure in Australia with changes in morbidity.PloS one, 13(8), p.e0201697.
Kurtz, D.L.M., Janke, R., Vinek, J., Wells, T., Hutchinson, P. and Froste, A., 2018. Health sciences cultural safety education in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States: a literature review. International journal of medical education, 9, p.271. McCalman, J., Heyeres, M., Campbell, S., Bainbridge, R., Chamberlain, C., Strobel, N. and Ruben, A., 2017. Family-centred interventions by primary healthcare services for Indigenous early childhood wellbeing in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States: a systematic scoping review. Healthcare assignmentBMC pregnancy and childbirth, 17(1), pp.1-21. Osborn, R., Doty, M.M., Moulds, D., Sarnak, D.O. and Shah, A., 2017. Older Americans were sicker and faced more financial barriers to health care than counterparts in other countries. Health Affairs, 36(12), pp.2123-2132. Raftery, C., Sassenberg, A.M. and Bamford-Wade, A., 2021. Business acumen for nursing leaders, optional or essential in today's health system A discussion paper.Collegian, 28(6), pp.610-615.
Skerrett, D.M., Gibson, M., Darwin, L., Lewis, S., Rallah, R. and De Leo, D., 2018. Closing the gap in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth suicide: A social–emotional wellbeing service innovation project. Australian Psychologist, 53(1), pp.13-22. Varghese, C., Nongkynrih, B. and Mikkelsen, B., 2021. Learning by Doing: Accelerate Towards the NCD Target in SDG Through Primary Healthcare; Comment on “Universal Health Coverage for Non-communicable Diseases and Health Equity: Lessons From Australian Primary Healthcare”. International Journal of Health Policy and Management.