Week 1: Connection to the Real World (Metropolis Health System Case Study)
Complete Assignment Exercises 1-2 on pages 525 in your course text.
Submit your assignment.
Exercise 1-2
Refer to the Metropolis Health System (MHS) case study appearing in Chapter 33 and read about the various types of services offered by MHS.
The MHS organization chart has seven major areas of responsibility, each headed by a senior vice president. Select one of the seven areas and design additional levels of detail that indicate the managers. If you have considerable detail you may choose one department (such as ambulatory operations) instead of the entire area of responsibility for that senior vice president.
Do you believe your design of the detailed organization chart indicates centralized or decentralized lines of authority for decision making? Can you explain your approach in one to two sentences?
Rubric
HIM410 Week 1 Homework – Assignment 1-2
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10 pts |
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CHAPTER 1
Assignment Exercise 1–1
Review the chapter text about types of organizations and examine the list in Exhibit 1–1.
Required
Obtain listings of healthcare organizations from the yellow pages of a telephone book.
Set up a worksheet listing the classifications of organizations found in Exhibit 1–1.
Enter the organizations you found in the yellow pages onto the worksheet.
For each organization indicate the type of organization.
If some cannot be identified by type, comment on what you would expect them to be; that is, proprietary, voluntary, or government owned.
Assignment Exercise 1–2
Review the chapter text about organization charts. Also examine the organization charts appearing in Figures 1–2 and 1–3.
Required
Refer to the Metropolis Health System (MHS) case study appearing in Chapter 33 and read about the various types of services offered by MHS.
The MHS organization chart has seven major areas of responsibility, each headed by a senior vice president. Select one of the seven areas and design additional levels of detail that indicate the managers. If you have considerable detail you may choose one department (such as ambulatory operations) instead of the entire area of responsibility for that senior vice president.
Do you believe your design of the detailed organization chart indicates centralized or decentralized lines of authority for decision making? Can you explain your approach in one to two sentences?
Exhibit 1–1 Types of Organizations
Profit Oriented—Proprietary
Individual
Partnership
Corporation
Other
Nonprofit—Voluntary
Church Associated
Private School Associated
Foundation Associated
Other
Nonprofit—Government
Federal
State
County
City
City–County
Hospital District
State University
Other
Organization Charts
In a small organization, top management will be able to see what is happening. Extensive measures and indicators are not necessary because management can view overall operations. But in a large organization, top management must use the management control system to understand what is going on. In other words, to view operations, management must use measures and indicators because he or she cannot get a firsthand overall picture of the total organization.
As a rule of thumb, an informal management control system is acceptable only if the manager can stay in close contact with all aspects of the operation. Otherwise, a formal system is required. In the context of health care, therefore, a one-physician practice (Figure 1–2) could use an informal method, but a hospital system (Figure 1–3) must use a formal method of management control.
Figure 1–2 Physician’s Office Organization Chart.
Courtesy of Resource Group, Ltd., Dallas, Texas.
Figure 1–3 Health System Organization Chart.
Courtesy of Resource Group, Ltd., Dallas, Texas.
The structure of the organization will affect its financial management. Organization charts are often used to illustrate the structure of the organization. Each box on an organization chart represents a particular area of management responsibility. The lines between the boxes are lines of authority.
In the health system organization chart illustrated in Figure 1–3, the president/chief executive officer oversees seven senior vice presidents. Each senior vice president has vice presidents reporting to him or her in each particular area of responsibility designated on the chart. These vice presidents, in turn, have an array of other managers reporting to them at varying levels of managerial responsibility.
The organization chart also shows the degree of decentralization within the organization. Decentralization indicates the delegating of authority for decision making. The chart thus illustrates the pattern of how managers are allowed—or required—to make key decisions within the particular organization.
The purpose of an organization chart, then, is to indicate how responsibility is assigned to managers and to indicate the formal lines of communication and reporting.
Exhibit 1–1 Types of Organizations
Profit Oriented—Proprietary
Individual
Partnership
Corporation
Other
Nonprofit—Voluntary
Church Associated
Private School Associated
Foundation Associated
Other
Nonprofit—Government
Federal
State
County
City
City–County
Hospital District
State University
Other
Organization Charts
In a small organization, top management will be able to see what is happening. Extensive measures and indicators are not necessary because management can view overall operations. But in a large organization, top management must use the management control system to understand what is going on. In other words, to view operations, management must use measures and indicators because he or she cannot get a firsthand overall picture of the total organization.
As a rule of thumb, an informal management control system is acceptable only if the manager can stay in close contact with all aspects of the operation. Otherwise, a formal system is required. In the context of health care, therefore, a one-physician practice (Figure 1–2) could use an informal method, but a hospital system (Figure 1–3) must use a formal method of management control.
Figure 1–2 Physician’s Office Organization Chart.
Courtesy of Resource Group, Ltd., Dallas, Texas.
Figure 1–3 Health System Organization Chart.
Courtesy of Resource Group, Ltd., Dallas, Texas.
The structure of the organization will affect its financial management. Organization charts are often used to illustrate the structure of the organization. Each box on an organization chart represents a particular area of management responsibility. The lines between the boxes are lines of authority.
In the health system organization chart illustrated in Figure 1–3, the president/chief executive officer oversees seven senior vice presidents. Each senior vice president has vice presidents reporting to him or her in each particular area of responsibility designated on the chart. These vice presidents, in turn, have an array of other managers reporting to them at varying levels of managerial responsibility.
The organization chart also shows the degree of decentralization within the organization. Decentralization indicates the delegating of authority for decision making. The chart thus illustrates the pattern of how managers are allowed—or required—to make key decisions within the particular organization.
The purpose of an organization chart, then, is to indicate how responsibility is assigned to managers and to indicate the formal lines of communication and reporting.