Custom «Analyzing a Contemporary Health Issue» Essay Paper Sample

In this essay we are going to examine diabetes. Diabetes is a disease that is characterized when the body cannot regulate the amount of glucose in the blood. Therefore the body fails to either produce or properly regulate the amount of insulin and thus cannot break down sugars and starch. Although the cause of diabetes is unknown, genetics and environmental factors like obesity, lack of exercises are likely to predispose people to the disease. We will identify how the disease impacts the organization from a business point of view. We will also examine whether differences do exist between how profit organizations and non-profit ones are impacted by the above disease. We will also look at the perspectives and responsibilities of financial management staff, the rules and regulations that the financial management must address concerning diabetes.

How organizations are impacted

There exist differences between for-profit and not-for-profit organizations and how they have been impacted by diabetes. The both exhibit different management programs which do bring out the unique organizational structure and market environments for disease implementation. For for-profit organizations, they have a staff model that reduces costs for implementation unlike the other with solo practice pg58

Although there are four main types of business organization in the health industry, two of them do stand out; not-for-profit business oriented organizations and investor owned health care organization otherwise known as profit organization. There are fundamental differences on how the two organizations' profits are impacted by diabetes patients. This is because for profit organizations, their main objective is to earn profits while for non-profit organizations they are owned by community whose primary goal is to serve the community rather than maximize profits although they have to be run like businesses to ensure a going concern. Unlike for-profit organizations, non-profit organizations are usually exempt from tax and thus expected to provide a public benefit inform of uncompensated care (Cleverly W. & Cameron A. pg.8). Treatment of diabetes requires large amounts of resources like in 1997 a total of 13.9 million days were spent in hospital by diabetes patients.  Analysis of diabetes with the above two health plans shows that the business case for the disease management is not strong. Initial costs for the programs are substantial and reaping from the plan may take as much as 10 years. It is estimated that only $75 will be saved by non-profit organizations, although the society will gain substantially. It is also estimated that a diabetic patient spending 10 years in the above program will have an improved benefit of $31,000 and experience a quality life.

In some years back, non-profit organizations reimbursed provider groups through capitation, this meant that clinics were at the risk of specialist fees and pharmacy charges. They later moved away from this arrangement and now bear 70% of the risk and pharmacy charges. For the diabetes management, non-profit organizations are able to track patients to even 1994 and from available statistics, the value of patients' complications reduced to about $31,000 with $330 operating costs.

The financial management staff have a varied of responsibilities that includes; they do educate their diabetic staff about the disease and effective management strategies. They are also required to manage a vast resource, manage and implement the diabetes disease. It is estimated that staff costs for diabetes is about $147,000. Thus the staff is required to chart ways of materials sent to physicians and patients and use the materials to review the program. The staff is also meant to annually avail a synopsis rate and risk stratification of their patients (Beaulieu N., Cutler D. & Ho Kathrine, Horrigan D. & Isham G. pg. 47). The financial management should also look at decision making. From available feasible actions, they should pick the most feasible and ensure that it is implemented and results are obtained (Cleverly W. & Cameron A. pg.4).  

Like in any other organizations, the diabetes disease management programs are hard to implement. It is hard to design and implement a cost effective diabetes disease program by the financial management. Reimbursement for care management services by the financial management team should be streamlined; this has been a problem in fee for service payment. The management staff should also look into and include programs that have a rapid enough pay-off system to justify customers' upfront investment costs (Beaulieu N., Cutler D. & Ho Kathrine, Horrigan D. & Isham G. pg.59).  The management staff should focus more on controllable factors like failure to follow prescribed plans and changes in reimbursements. Decision making is also critical as it should choose the highest expectation of results by selecting the desirable of results (Cleverly W. & Cameron A. pg.4-5).

The financial management must address the going concern of the business because an organizations' financial strength is equated with the firm's ability to continue pursuing its goals. The assessment of the financial position is done by the financial management. They should asses the lower staff whether there's any form of embezzlement that is taking place. They should also ensure that there is efficiency at the lowest cost of production and that the effectiveness of operations is highest to attain the objectives aimed. They should also ensure that there's total compliance with the provided financial information like agreeing the budget figures with the other management levels. Thus their work should be both i.e. treasureship and controllership (Cleverly W. & Cameron A. pg.6-7).

Diabetes is disease that is characterized by the body failing to produce or break down insulin. There are different treatment programs that are offered by for-profit and not-for-profits organizations. Literature suggests that management programs can generate net cost savings of up to 10 years and the organizations are impacted differently. The responsibilities of the financial management are many and include; planning for control, report and interpret financial systems, evaluate, consult and administer taxes. They are also involved in appraising economic health of the organization. They should provide timely, accurate and relevant information through the required accounting system to make the plans viable.