Long Term Care
Conchita Ruiz-Alvarez
Capella University
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Abstract
The need for the extended care has become a reality through the longevity revolution. Millions of people are living longer and longer, reaching an advanced age where infirmities rob them of independence. Health care system isn't designed to cope with long-term care issues. For an elderly widow who is whose hands are so gnarled by arthritis, she cannot dress or turn the knob on her kitchen stove. She is keenly alert, but she may wind up in a nursing home anyway, at a tab of $60,000 a year, because there is no way she can live alone. The widow and her grown children are shocked to discover that Medicare won't pay for her care in a nursing home. Only when she impoverishes herself, …show more content…
Because the various environmental forces remain dynamic, administrators must be keen observers of emerging trends. They must assess the nature and degree of change in the environment, and evaluate the potential impact of external changes on the organization. Certain environmental changes can have a lasting effect on an individual facility’s or a nursing home corporation’s long-range survival. For example, when new competition enters the market, new regulations take effect, or payment methods are changed, they generally have lasting effects on long-term care facilities. Hence, the difference between success and failure often depends on the ability of top-level managers to identify changes in the external environment, evaluate their potential effect on the organization, make decisions, and take action. The dynamic environment not only presents challenges; it also opens new opportunities. Long-term care administrators who understand and are attuned to external factors and their potential effect on the organizations they manage are likely to outperform those who do not pay attention to the changes or do not grasp their implications for the facility. Achieving this kind of success requires that nursing home administrators develop a high level of conceptual skills. They must be active in their local communities, exchange ideas with managers in other …show more content…
As the recent experience with the Medicare drug benefit illustrates, favorable public opinion alone is not enough to incite action. To achieve a better long-term care system, several additional steps are required. Researchers must continue to demonstrate the extent of unmet needs for long-term care, the financial costs of care, and the burden placed on caregivers. Advocates must frame the problem of long-term care financing in terms that resonate with the public. Policy analysts must refine and disseminate specific proposals that will provide for a more equitable sharing of responsibility between individuals and government. Finally, leaders must emerge who will take up the cause of long-term care, build coalitions for change, and take advantage of opportunities for
Conchita Ruiz-Alvarez
Capella University
\
Abstract
The need for the extended care has become a reality through the longevity revolution. Millions of people are living longer and longer, reaching an advanced age where infirmities rob them of independence. Health care system isn't designed to cope with long-term care issues. For an elderly widow who is whose hands are so gnarled by arthritis, she cannot dress or turn the knob on her kitchen stove. She is keenly alert, but she may wind up in a nursing home anyway, at a tab of $60,000 a year, because there is no way she can live alone. The widow and her grown children are shocked to discover that Medicare won't pay for her care in a nursing home. Only when she impoverishes herself, …show more content…
Because the various environmental forces remain dynamic, administrators must be keen observers of emerging trends. They must assess the nature and degree of change in the environment, and evaluate the potential impact of external changes on the organization. Certain environmental changes can have a lasting effect on an individual facility’s or a nursing home corporation’s long-range survival. For example, when new competition enters the market, new regulations take effect, or payment methods are changed, they generally have lasting effects on long-term care facilities. Hence, the difference between success and failure often depends on the ability of top-level managers to identify changes in the external environment, evaluate their potential effect on the organization, make decisions, and take action. The dynamic environment not only presents challenges; it also opens new opportunities. Long-term care administrators who understand and are attuned to external factors and their potential effect on the organizations they manage are likely to outperform those who do not pay attention to the changes or do not grasp their implications for the facility. Achieving this kind of success requires that nursing home administrators develop a high level of conceptual skills. They must be active in their local communities, exchange ideas with managers in other …show more content…
As the recent experience with the Medicare drug benefit illustrates, favorable public opinion alone is not enough to incite action. To achieve a better long-term care system, several additional steps are required. Researchers must continue to demonstrate the extent of unmet needs for long-term care, the financial costs of care, and the burden placed on caregivers. Advocates must frame the problem of long-term care financing in terms that resonate with the public. Policy analysts must refine and disseminate specific proposals that will provide for a more equitable sharing of responsibility between individuals and government. Finally, leaders must emerge who will take up the cause of long-term care, build coalitions for change, and take advantage of opportunities for