A Healthcare Initiative (Essay Sample)

Healthcare
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Healthcare
Healthcare is the science of improving the mental and physical health through medical services. Licensed professionals used to provide medical services include those relating to the discipline of pharmacy, optometry, medicine, nursing, dentistry, physicians, chiropractic, among others. The success of the healthcare sector can be analyzed concerning the cost-benefit analysis (CBA) or through the net present value of returns. This assignment focuses on the cost-benefit analysis of a healthcare initiative for economic judgment.
A Healthcare Initiative
The selection of a healthcare initiative is a good measure for economic analysis. An example is the determination of creativity of healthy place of work and productivity. Some factors can determine a healthy workplace. The first one is the influence of such a working environment to the health and well-being of workers. The second is the relationship that exists between employees and healthy workplaces.
The well-being and health of workers need to be supported to enable an organization to experience positive gains of development. The relationship that exists between employees and healthy workplaces contributes largely to the overall evolution of a health facility. Employees should be supported by all means possible to enable accomplishing the goal of effectiveness in their area of work. The support of workers emanate from the kind of leadership that exist and whether workers are regarded as critical assets of an organization. Supportive supervision is another ingredient that ensures that employees get support in the most favorable manner. Other components of helping employees are job control, improved communication, employee participation, and opportunities to learn given to workers.
Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA)
A cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is an approach to estimating strength and weaknesses in the healthcare sector. The primary aim of the approach is to see if cost savings, time, and benefits in labor elements get involved in the process of undertaking the activities of business. There is evidence that exists in support of health promotion programs that helps in improving the health effects for employees. Additionally, such health programs lead to the reduction in medical costs for the employer. The link between productivity and healthy place of work can thus be established through this analysis. The limitation of this evidence is the charging of costs and benefits on the behavior and health attitudes of an individual.
The CBA is analyzed by looking at some examples that show the weaknesses and strengths of the healthcare sector. An example is where a comprehensive program of health care was conducted at MDS Nordion (Brown, 2001). The results obtained revealed that the health care program led to absenteeism of employees from 5.5 to 4 days. Turnover was also affected as they fell by close to half of the industry average (Brown, 2001). Another organization called Telus (1998) conducted an investigation that led the saving of $4.5 million following the “Corporate Health Team” that was focusing on individual health. The effect is savings of $3 for every amount of dollar spent (Riedel et al. 2001).
Another study involved the examination of eight organizations from Halifax area (Lowe, 2003). The results obtained revealed increased return following the investment in a wellness program. For every excess amount of $1 invested in the wellness program, there was a return of $1.64 (Lowe, 2003). The investment in the wellness program was designed to reduce the risk of employees. Higher profits of $4 were realized for increased risk associated with heart diseases that usually results from smoking (Lowe, 2003). A survey conducted on employees involvement revealed that there was a slight drop in absenteeism and productivity in the program following a three-month period of study (Brown, 2001).
It can be argued that the cost-benefit ratio is evident from the existence of ration between USD $3 and $8 as shown for the case of $1 investment in health programs (Lowe, 2003). These programs were set within a five-year period following their launching (Aldana, 2001). The suggestion here is that the wellness initiative of the workplace may have higher benefits to employees and the entire organization as a whole (Lyden and Klengele, 2000). The only problem with such a program is that there is the failure to of healthcare initiatives in yielding cost saving approaches (Ozminkowski and Goetzel 2001). The reflection of these failures is on the part of existing challenges of both ethical and logistical means associated with conducting research in workplaces. Laboratories would have been better in conducting such experiences. On the same note, there would be some executives who are uncomfortable with the research being carried out. These uncomfortable employers are usually not concerned with the demand for a healthier workplace (Riedel et al. 2001).
Analysis of the Net Present Value (NPV)
There has been an element of increased performance of intellectual and human capital towards economic growth. People are thus made to shift from thinking from an accounting perspective to a future-oriented value approach (Riedel et al. 2001). Decision making from a global perspective has concentrated on the need to make healthy organizations for increased benefits. The health of an organization become visible if there is an aspect of employee satisfaction. Similarly, commitment towards the overall success of workers contributes mainly to ensuring that a health organization is maintained. Unhealthy organizations get involved in a mechanism of increased absenteeism that leads to reduced profits (Lyden and Klengele, 2000).
Investment programs involved in promotional health facets ensures that employees are boosted concerning increased performance and reduced absenteeism (Lyden and Klengele, 2000). For this reason, employers are supposed to employ a strategic approach to the support of health issues. However, the uptake of such initiatives is slowly implemented by some organizations. Slow implementation of such programs may lead to decision makers focusing on annual returns on investment and quarterly reports to make resolutions (Riedel et al. 2001).
Proposed Recommendation
Recommendations provided concerns the research on healthcare initiatives. All practitioners and employers in the health sector need to wait for more research to give more knowledge on the subject. Such research is expected to give some guidelines on the need for integration of human resource initiatives, workplace wellness, and occupational health. A sustainable health in the place of work is established if there is an enabling condition such as strong leadership and supportive supervisors. Supervisory training should also prevail in healthcare initiatives. Emp