Labor and Delivery Services
The case provides a situation in which the manager must decide on whether to continue with the provision of labor and delivery services at a small, rural hospital. Nonetheless, before making such a decision, people must look at the various factors that justify the decision to forgo labor and delivery services and compare them against the factors that justify the decision to continue providing the services. A discussion with Board members and the hospital’s staff members revealed that various demand- and supply-side factors may contribute to the decision of whether or not to forgo labor and delivery services at the hospital. More specifically, the Board members and hospital staff members identified the rapidly increasing …show more content…
More precisely, childbearing women who are at a high risk of developing complications during a pregnancy may have to travel long distances to get access to specialized care. Lack of access to labor and delivery services at the local level is certainly inconvenient for childbearing women and those that are pregnant, and this could even result in adverse birth outcomes such as the death of the baby or the woman during delivery. While the decision to stop providing labor and delivery services is inconvenient for patients and the community, it is definitely not cost-effective for the hospital to continue providing the services. Accordingly, the patients and the community recommend that the hospital should continue with the provision of labor and delivery services while the Board and hospital staff members recommend that the provision of the services at the hospital should stop because it is not cost-effective. However, in light of the ethical theory of utilitarianism, which, according to Ozoliņš, and Grainger (2015) asserts that decision-makers should choose the decision that provides the maximum benefits to the utmost number of individuals, it would be appropriate for the hospital to continue providing the labor and delivery …show more content…
Nay, Garratt, and Fetherstonhaugh (2013) provide a step-by-step approach to balancing the needs and expectations of various stakeholders in decision-making. According to the authors, in situations where the decision-maker must balance the concerns of various stakeholders, the first step is defining the proposed action and the reasons for the action, followed by the second step, which entails listing the various stakeholders affected by the proposed action. In this instance, the stakeholders to be affected by the proposal to purchase a mammography 3D machine include the physicians, the Board of Directors, the public relations/marketing team, and the patients. As Nay, Garratt, and Fetherstonhaugh (2013) state, after defining the proposed action and listing the stakeholders, the third step is defining the consequences that the proposed action will bring to each stakeholder. While purchasing the machine will result in improved patient outcomes and a happy medical staff and thus reduced staff turnover, such a decision will not mean good to the Board of Directors, who wants to keep a tight control over frivolous
The case provides a situation in which the manager must decide on whether to continue with the provision of labor and delivery services at a small, rural hospital. Nonetheless, before making such a decision, people must look at the various factors that justify the decision to forgo labor and delivery services and compare them against the factors that justify the decision to continue providing the services. A discussion with Board members and the hospital’s staff members revealed that various demand- and supply-side factors may contribute to the decision of whether or not to forgo labor and delivery services at the hospital. More specifically, the Board members and hospital staff members identified the rapidly increasing …show more content…
More precisely, childbearing women who are at a high risk of developing complications during a pregnancy may have to travel long distances to get access to specialized care. Lack of access to labor and delivery services at the local level is certainly inconvenient for childbearing women and those that are pregnant, and this could even result in adverse birth outcomes such as the death of the baby or the woman during delivery. While the decision to stop providing labor and delivery services is inconvenient for patients and the community, it is definitely not cost-effective for the hospital to continue providing the services. Accordingly, the patients and the community recommend that the hospital should continue with the provision of labor and delivery services while the Board and hospital staff members recommend that the provision of the services at the hospital should stop because it is not cost-effective. However, in light of the ethical theory of utilitarianism, which, according to Ozoliņš, and Grainger (2015) asserts that decision-makers should choose the decision that provides the maximum benefits to the utmost number of individuals, it would be appropriate for the hospital to continue providing the labor and delivery …show more content…
Nay, Garratt, and Fetherstonhaugh (2013) provide a step-by-step approach to balancing the needs and expectations of various stakeholders in decision-making. According to the authors, in situations where the decision-maker must balance the concerns of various stakeholders, the first step is defining the proposed action and the reasons for the action, followed by the second step, which entails listing the various stakeholders affected by the proposed action. In this instance, the stakeholders to be affected by the proposal to purchase a mammography 3D machine include the physicians, the Board of Directors, the public relations/marketing team, and the patients. As Nay, Garratt, and Fetherstonhaugh (2013) state, after defining the proposed action and listing the stakeholders, the third step is defining the consequences that the proposed action will bring to each stakeholder. While purchasing the machine will result in improved patient outcomes and a happy medical staff and thus reduced staff turnover, such a decision will not mean good to the Board of Directors, who wants to keep a tight control over frivolous